HE 

2763 
1853 


University  of  California  •  Berkley 


LETTER  FROM  COL.  BENTON  / 


TO    THE 


PEOPLE  OF  MISSOURI. 


CENTRAL  NATIONAL  HIGHWAY  FROM  THE  MISSIS- 
SIPPI RIVER  TO  THE  PACIFIC. 

CITIZENS:  The  time  has  come  when  the  long  disputed  question 
of  a  railroad  to  the  Pacific  ocean  is  assuming  a  practical  form, 
and  is  about  to  receive  its  solution  in  the  authoritative  examina- 
tion of  the  country,  and  the  selection  of  the  route.  An  appro- 
priation has  been  made  by  Congress  for  the  examinations, 
and  the  selection  of  the  route  is  referred  to  the  next  Con- 
gress. This  is  well,  and  will  give  the  CENTRAL  route  a  fair 
chance,  although  the  MEMPHIS,  or  SOUTHERN  route  has  gained  an 
immense  advantage  over  it  in  the  numerous  surveys  which  have 
been  made,  and  the  long  concentration  of  the  public  opinion 
upon  it. 

The  Central  route  has  been  advocated  by  Col.  Fremont  for 
four  years,  and  his  preference  for  it  publicly  made  known. 
From  the  time  of  his  first  survey  of  the  (miscalled)  SOUTH  PASS 
he  deemed  that  pass  to  be  too  far  north  for  California:  and  sub- 
ject to  other  objections  ;  and,  therefore,  sought  along  the  summit 
of  the  Rocky  mountains,  and  along  its  base  on  both  sides  for 
Passes  further  south  ;  and  found  them  in  several  places  in  the 
THREE  PARKS,  and  at  head  of  the  Arkansas.  But  he  did  not  con- 
sider the  examinations  complete  until  he  should  search  the  head 
of  the  Rio  Grande  del  Norte,  where  the  information  of  the  moun- 
tain men,  and  the  course  of  the  buffaloes,  led  him  to  expect  to 
find  the  best  Pass,  and  in  the  best  country,  and  on  the  straightest 
line  of  communication  between  the  central  parts  of  the  Valley 
of  the  Mississippi  and  the  Bay  of  San  Francisco. 

This  was  the  object  of  his  last  expedition,  undertaken  at  his  own 
expense,  in  the  winter  1848-'49,  after  he  had  resigned  his  place  in 
the  army  of  the  United  States :.  and  the  event,  though  tardily,  and 
after  a  great  disaster,  has  realized  all  his  expectations.  Upon 
his  arrival  at  TAGS  and  SANTA  FE,  after  that  disaster,  every  body 
could  tell  him  (and  especially  Mr.  Antoine  Leroux)  how  near  he 
had  been  to  his  object — that  he  was  on  the  point  of  going  through 
the  fine  Pass  at  the  head  of  the  valley  of  the  Del  Norte  when 


his  guide,  from  a  deplorable  mistake,  and  against  his  convictions 
and  remonstrances,  turned  him  out  of  the  valley,  and  led  him 
upon  the  stupendous  heights  and  deep  snows  of  the  SIERRA  SAN 
JUAN.  Though  balked,  and  turned 'back,  he  had  come  near 
enough  to  his  object  to  know  it  was  there,  and  to  know  that  it 
was  passable  in  winter — and  in  that  winter — which  was  one  of 
the  deepest  and  earliest  snows  ever  known.  He  had  crossed 
from  the  Upper  Arkansas  through  the  SIERRA  BLANCA  into  the 
broad  and  rich  valley  at  the  head  of  the  Del  Norte  which  leads 
into  the  PASS,  and  had  surmounted  every  obstacle  that  lay  in  his 
way.  In  three  days,  without  crossing  even  a  swell  in  the  ground, 
or  being  able  to  detect  the  point  of  the  divorce  of  the  waters,  he 
would  have  been  on  the  west  of  the  Rocky  mountains,  on  the 
waters  of  the  Great  Colorado  of  the  West,  in  a  country  of  wood 
and  grass,  and  in  a  climate  comparatively  mild :  in  fact  he  would 
have  been  there  in  less  time  than  his  guide  got  him  to  the  place 
of  his  disaster.  The  information  received  at  Taos  and  Santa  Fe 
completed  his  knowledge  both  of  this  Pass  and  of  the  country 
beyond  it,  and  left  him  perfectly  satisfied  in  his  own  mind  that 
the  true  route  was  found  :  and  he  communicated  this  important 
fact  to  the  Railroad  convention  in  Philadelphia,  in  April,  1850, 
in  a  letter,  which  was  published  ;  and  also  sent  to  the  convention 
a  sketch  of  the  route  indicated  on  a  map. 

Col.  Fremont  and  I  were  both  in  Congress  at  that  time,  and 
immediately  went  to  work  to*develope  this  route  ;  but  we  both 
were  left  out  of  Congress  that  year,  and  the  CENTRAL  route  lost 
its  advocates,  and  disappeared  from  the  view  of  Congress  and  the 
people ;  and  has  remained  unnoticed  for  three  years,  while  the 
Southern  (Memphis)  route  has  monopolized  attention  and  ac- 
quired an  engrossing  prominence.  But  the  time  has  arrived  for 
the  neglected  route  to  appear  upon  the  scene  again,  and  in  a 
form  to  secure  for  it  a  share  of  the  public  attention.  The  peo- 
ple of  St.  Louis  Congressional  district  elected  me  to  the  House 
of  Representatives  last  summer;  and  I  came  here  to  work  du- 
ring the  winter ;  though  not  in  the  House.  It  has  so  happened 
that  Mr.  Antoine  Leroux,  the  best  qualified  man  in  the  world  to 
speak  on  the  subject,  (not  excepting  the  renowned  Christopher 
Carson,)  has  arrived  here  also ;  and  from  him  I  have  received 
the  information,  embodied  in  a  formal  statement,  which  estab- 
lishes, not  merely  the  practicable,  but  the  easy  and  excellent 
character  of  the  route,  and  which  statement  I  herewith  present : 

STATEMENT  OF  MR.  LEROUX. 

At  the  request  of  Col.  Benton,  I,  Antoine  Leroux,  native  of  St.  Louis  of  Missouri,  and 
now  an  inhabitant  of  Taos,  in  New  Mexico,  do  make  the  following  statement  in  rela- 
tion to  the  Pass  at  the  head  of  the  valley  of  the  Del  Norte,  and  of  the  country  on  each 
side  of  that  Pass;  and  also  as  to  the  best  road  from  Missouri  to  California.  And  first 
tell  how  I  got  acquainted  with  the  country : 

In  the  year  1820,  when  I  was  in  my  nineteenth  year,  I  joined  Gen.  Ashley  and 
Major  Henry  in  an  expedition  of  hunting  and  trapping  to  the  Upper  Missouri  and 
Rocky  Mountains;  and  after  near  two  year*  in  that  part  I  went  to  Taos,  in  New 


. 

•3  a  4 

Mexico,  and  afterwards  married  there,  and  have  made  it  my  home  ever  since;  and 
from  that  place  I  carried  on  the  business  of  a  beaver  trapper  for  about  fifteen  years, 
generally  on  the  waters  of  the  Great  Colorado  of  the  West;  and  have  trapped  the  whole 
country,  every  river,  creek,  and  branch  from  the  Gila  to  the  head  of  the  Grand  River 
fork  of  the  Upper  Colorado,  and  out  to  the  Great  Salt  Lake,  and  on  the  waters  of 
Wah-Satch  Mountain,  and  out  to  the  Virgen  River,  and  have  been  four  times  to  Cali- 
fornia, and  guide  to  a  great  many  American,  officers  employed  in  Mexico,  and  know 
the  country  from  New  Mexico  to  California. 
I  will  now  describe  the  Pass. 

At  the  head  of  the  valley  of  the  Del  Norte  there  is  a  broad  Pass  about  eight  miles 
wide,  called  by  the  Utah  Indians,  Coo  cha-tope,  and  by  the  Mexican  Spaniards  El 
Puerto,  and  which  signifies  in  both  languages  The  Gap,  or  the  Gate ;  and  has  been 
known  to  the  Spaniards  ever  since  they  settled  in  New  Mexico,  and  by  the  Indians  al- 
ways. Ct  is  made  by  the  Sierra  San  Juan,  which  comes  up  from  the  South  on  the 
west  side  of  the  Del  Norte,  and  gives  out  there;  and  by  the  Sierra  Blanco,  which 
comes  in  from  the  east  like  it  was  going  to  join  the  San  Juan,  but  turns  off  north  round 
the  head  of  the  Arkansas  and  towards  the  Three  Parks  and  is  eight  miles  wide.  Here  be- 
tween these  two  mountains  is  the  Pass  which  goes  out  level  from  the  valley  of  the  Del 
Norte,  (and  looking  like  a  continuation  of  it,)  which  leads  to  the  upper  waters  of  the  Great 
Colorado  of  the  West.  The  Del  Norte  does  not  head  in  this  Pass,  but  in  the  San  Juan 
Mountain,  a  little  south  of  the  Pass,  where  there  is  also  a  summer  Pass,  but  none  for 
the  winter  on  account  of  the  snow  in  it.  There  is  a  small  creek  in  the  Pass  called  by 
the  same  name,  Coo-cha-tope,  which  comes  out  from  the  end  of  the  San  Juan  and 
goes  about  eight  miles  east  towards  the  Del  Norte,  but  stops  in  a  small  lake,  out  of 
which  a  little  stream  gets  to  the  Del  Norte — which  shows  how  level  the  country  is. 
The  Pass  is  heavily  timbered  with  large  pine  trees,  and  with  pifion ;  and  there  may  be 
some  small  oaks,  but  I  am  not  certain.  There  is  not  much  snow  in  this  Pass,  and 
people  go  through  all  the  winter;  and  when  there  is_much  snow  in  the  mountains  on 
the  Abiquiii  route,  (which  is  the  old  Spanish  Trail'to  California,)  the  people  of  Taos 
go  round  this  way,  and  get  into  that  trail  in  the  forks  of  Grand  and  Green  rivers. 
There  are  trails  through  it,  but  after  you  get  through  there  are  many  trails,  some  going 
to  the  Abiquiu  road,  and  some  up  or  down  the  country.  This  Pass  is  laid  down  on  a 
map  I  saw  in  the  War  Office,  made  by  Lieut.  Parke  and  Mr.  R.  II.  Kern,  and  is  there 
named  after  me,  because  I  gave  Lieut.  Parke  information  about  it.  It  is  the  only  map 
I  have  seen  that  shows  that  Pass,  and  the  best  one  I  have  seen  of  that  part  of  the  coun- 
try, and  with  a  little  correction  would  be  perfect. 

As  for  the  country  on  each  side  of  the  Pass,  I  will  describe  it,  and  on  the  east 
«ide  first. 

There  is  a  large  valley  to  the  east  about  50  or  60  miles  wide  and  near  100  miles 
long,  reaching  from  the  Coo-cha-tope  to  the  Taos  settlements  at  the  Little  Colorado. 
The  Del  Norte  runs  through  this  valley,  which  is  the  widest  and  best  valley  in  all  New 
Mexico,  and  can  hold  more  people  than  all  New  Nexico  besides.  It  is  all  prairie  except 
on  the  creeks,  and  on  the  river,  and  on  the  mountain  sides,  which  are  well  wooded.  It 
is  a  rich  soil  and  covered  with  good  grass,  and  wooded  on  all  the  streams.  The  Span- 
iards called  it  EL  VALLE  DK  SAX  Luis,  and  it  was  formerly  famous  for  wild  hoses  and 
buffaloes;  and  ever  since  Taos  was  settled  by  the  Spaniards  the  inhabitants  drove  their 
sheep  and  cattle  there  to  winter.  Before  the  Utah  Indians  became  so  bad,  the  stock  as 
many  as  50,000  or  60,000  head  of  sheep  and  cattle  have  been  driven  there  to  winter, 
which  they  did  well,  feeding  on  the  graes  during  the  day,  and  sheltering  in  the  woods 
about  the  shepherd's  camp  at  night.  Most  of  the  winters  there  is  no  snow  along  the 
foot  of  the  mountain  on  the  north  side  of  this  valley,  being  sheltered  from  the  north 
and  open  to  the  sun  to  the  south.  The  United  States  have  established  a  military  post 
in  this  valley,  not  far  from  the  Pass  of  El  Sangre  de  Christo,  and  about  two  hundred 
families  have  gone  there  to  live,  chiefly  near  the  Fort,  and  raised  crops  there  last  year  ; 
and  now  that  they  have  protection,  the  valley  will  soon  be  all  settled,  and  will  be  the 
biggest  and  best  part  of  New  Mexico.  About  three  hundred  families  more  were  prepar- 
ing to  move  there.  The  post  is  called  Fort  Massachusetts. 

This  valley  has  several  passes  through  the  Sierra  Blanca  into  the  prairie  country  on 
the  Upper  Arkansas  and  Kanzas,  the  best  of  which  is  called  El  Sangre  de  Christo,  at 
the  head  of  the  little  streams  called  Cuchadas,  which  fall  into  the  Huerfano,  a  small 
river  falling  into  the  Arkansas,  not  far  from.  Bent's  Fort.  It  is  a  good  Pass,  and  Bent 


and  St.  Wain's  wagons  have  passed  through  it,  and  it  is  passable  the  worst  of  winters? 
for  Col.  Beale's  dragoons  passed  through  it  the  same  winter,  and  nearly  the  same  time, 
that  Col.  Fremont  went  through  another  Pass  further  west.  The  distance  through 
these  passes  is  not  more  than  five  miles.  This  is  the  description  of  the  country  on  the 
east  side  of  the  Coo-cha-tope  Pass. 

On  the  west  side  of  the  Pass  the  country  opens  out  broad  and  good  for  settlements, 
and  for  roads,  and  is  the  best  watered  country  I  ever  saw  out  to  the  Wah-satch  Moun- 
tains and  to  Lap  Vegas  de  Santa  Clara.  After  that  the  water  and  grass  become  scarce., 
and  the  land  poor,  and  it  is  called  desert,  though  travellers  find  camping  grounds  every 
night;  and  the  great  cavalcades  of  many  thousand  head  of  horses  from  California  to 
New  Mexico  annually  passed  along  it.  After  you  go  through  the  Pass  at  the  head  of 
ihe  Del  Norte,  there  are  many  trails  bearing  Southwest  towards  the  great  Spanish  trail 
by  Abiquiu,  which  they  join  in  the  forks  of  the  Grand  river  and  Green  river,  (forks  of 
the  great  Colorado  of  the  West,)  where  it  is  a  great  beaten  road,  easy  to  follow  day  or 
night.  The  country  is  wooded  on  the  streams  with  prairies  between,  and  streams  every 
three  or  five  miles,  as  the  great  Colorado  here  gathers  its  head  waters  from  the  Wah- 
satch  and  Rocky  Mountain  ranges,  which  covered  all  over  with  snow  in  the  winter,  and 
have  snow  upon  their  tops  in  the  summer,  which  sends  down  so  much  water,  artd  cool, 
clear  and  good.  '  And  this  is  the  case  generally  out  to  the  Wah  satch  Mountains  and 
Las  Vegas  de  Santa  Clara — a  dista'nce  of  near  five  hundred  miles  from  the  head  of  the 
Del  Norte.  Wagons  can  now  travel  this  route  to  California,  and  have  done  it.  In  the 
year  1837,  two  families  named  Sloover  and  Pope,  with  their  wagons  and  two  Mexicans, 
went  from  Taos  that  way. 

Col.  Fremont  was  looking  for  the  Coo  cha-tope  Pass  in  the  winter  of  1848-9,  and 
was  near  enough  to  have  seen  it,  if  it  had  not  been  hid  by  the  lapping  of  the  moun- 
tains, when  his  guide  led  him  off  into  the  mountains,  instead  of  keeping  up  the  dry 
valley,  which  he  wished  to  do,  and  which  would  have  taken  him  through  easy.  It  was 
the  worst  winter  for  snow,  but  we  could  travel  all  the  time  in  the  valleys  and  passes.  I 
Was  below  hirti  on  the  waters  of  the  Arkansas  at  the  same  time,  acting  as  guide  to  Col. 
Beale,  who  was  out  after  the  Apache  Indians  with  a  detachment  of  dragoons,  and  we 
heard  of  him  at  the  Pueblo's.  He  went  as  high  as  Hard  Scrabble  and  got  corn  before 
he  crossed  into  the  valley  of  San  Luis,  and  we  got  corn  at  the  Greenhorn  Pueblo  on  the 
San  Carlos  creek,  about  50  or  60  miles  below  him;  and  heard  that  he  had  passed  along, 
and  supposed  that  he  had  gone  safe  through,  and  knew  no  better  till  he  got  back  to 
Taos,  when  I  told  him  how  near  he  had  been  to  the  place  he  was  looking  for.  We 
passed  with  the  dragoons  through  the  Pass  El  Sangre  de  Christo,  (Blood  of  Christ,)  and 
got  through  easy;  and  that  was  the  dead  of  winter,  and  greatest  snow  we  ever  had. 

There  is  a  way  also  up  the  Arkansas  to  get  to  the  waters  of  the  Great  Colorado.  It 
is  by  Bent's  Fort,  by  the  Pueblo's  and  Hard  Scrabble,  (at  all  which  places  corn  and 
Tegetables  are  raised,)  and  by  Withams's  fishery, 'and  at  the  head  of  the  river,  leaving 
the  THUEB  PARKS  to  the  north.  Horsemen  and  stock  can  go  that  way.  Maxwell,  of 
Taos,  drove  out  between  four  and  five  thousand  head  of  sheep  and  cattle  last  summer, 
intending  to  take  them  to  California,  but  went  to  the  Great  Salt  Lake,  and  sold  them 
there. 

A  wagon  can  now  go  from  Missouri  to  California  through  the  Coo  cha-tope  Pass 
without  crossing  any  mountain  but  the  Sierra  Blanca,  (and  there  have  the  choice  of 
three  good  passes,)  and  without  crossing  any  swamp  01  large  river,  and  nearly  on  a 
straight  line  all  the  way,  only  bearing  a  little  south.  And  supplies  of  grain  and  cattle 
can  be  had  from  the  Pueblo's  on  the  Upper  Arkansas,  and  also  from  the  Mexicans  in 
the  valley  of  St.  Louis,  and  also  from  the  Mormons  at  Ojn  San  Jose,  and  at  their  settle- 
ment on  the  Nicollet  river,  and  at  Las  Vegas  de  Santa  Clara. 

I  have  been  from  New  Mexico  to  California  four  times,  namely,  the  way  I  guided 
Col.  Cook,  the  way  I  guided  Capt.  Sitgreaves,  and  the  Salinas  route,  and  the  Abiquio 
route;  and  of  these  four  the  one  I  guided  Capt.  Sitgreaves  is,  as  I  informed  Mr.  Reward, 
the  best  and  shortest  from  from  Santa  Fe  or  Albuquerque;  but  from  places  further  north, 
and  especially  from  Missouri,  the  Coo-cha-tope  Pass  is  best  and  shortest;  and  has  most 
water,  grass,  wood,  and  good  land  on  it;  and  has  most  snow,  but  not  enough  to  prevent 
winter  travelling;  so  that  when  there  is  much  snow  in  the  trail  by  Abiquiu,  people  from 
Taos  go  that  way,  as  I  have  already  said.  The  snow  in  that  country  is  dty,  and  the 
moccasins  'hat  we  wear  do  not  get  damp  or  wet. 

And  being  asked  by  Col.  Benton  to  state  the  best  way  from  Missouri  to  California,  I 
answer:  Start  as  the  people  now  do,  going  to  New  Mexico,  from  the  frontier  of  the 
State  at  Kanzas  or  Independence,  and  for  summer  travelling  go  through  the  prairies  up 


towards  Bent's  Fort,  and  up  the  Huerfano  to  the  Pass  El  Sangre  de  Christo;  then  out 
by  the  Coo  cha  tope  Pass,  following  a  trail  to  to  the  great  Spanish  trail.  The  winter 
travel  would  be  to  start  from  the  same  point,  but  follow  the  Kanzas  liver  valley  for  the 
aake  of  the  wood,  and  when  that  gives  out  cross  to  the  Arkansas,  which  is  not  far  off, 
and  level  between,  and  follow  that  up  for  wood.  The  prairie  is  the  way  in  the  summer, 
but  winter  travelling  must  have  the  protection  of  woods  and  timber  against  snow 
storms.  And  everything  that  I  tell  I  can  show,  and  would  undertake  to  guide  a  party 
aafe  through  with  wagons  now. 

ANTOINE  LEROUX. 
WASHINGTON  CITT,  Marcti  1,  1853, 


Letter  from  CoL  FREMONT  to  the  Railroad  Convention,  April,  1850. 

To  Mtssers.  B.  Gerhard,  and  others,  Committee,  &c. 

GERTLEMEX:  It  would  have  given  me  great  pleasure  to  have  been  able  to  accept  your 
kind  invitation,  and  to  have  met  the  interesting  Mississippi  and  Pacific  Railroad  Con- 
vention on  Monday,  but  the  remains  of  a  Chagres  fever  confine  me  to  ray  room,  and 
ieave  me  no  other  mode  of  showing  my  sense  of  your  attention,  and  manifesting  the 
interest  I  take  in  the  great  object  which  assembles  this  convention,  than  to  contribute, 
go  far  as  I  can,  to  the  mass  of  information  which  will  be  laid  before  it.  In  doing  this, 
I  regret  that  the  state  of  my  health  does  not  permit  even  the  labor  necessary  to  give  the 
distances  and  barometrical  elevations  along  the  route,  which  I  shall  offer  for  your  con- 
sideration, but  I  have  caused  a  skeleton  map,  rudely  sketched,  and  which,  in  exhibiting 
the  prominent  features  of  the  country  and  general  direction  of  the  line,  will  be  found 
sufficiently  full  and  accurate  to  illustrate  what  I  have  to  say. 

Many  lines  of  exploration  through  the  wilderness  country  from  our  inhabited  frontier, 
to  the  Pacific  ocean,  have  conclusively  satisfied  me  that  the  region  or  belt  of  country, 
lying  between  the  38th  and  39th  parallels  of  latitude,  offer  singular  facilities  and  extra- 
ordinary comparative  advantages  for  the  construction  of  the  proposed  road. 

I  propose,  therefore,  to  occupy  your  attention  solely  with  this  line,  for  the  clear  un- 
derstanding of  which  it  will  aid  to  keep  under  the  eye  the  accompanying  map,  upon 
which  the  unbroken  red  lines  are  intended  to  show  that  the  regions  which  they  traverse 
have  been  already  explored,  while  the  broken  red  lines  indicate  what  is  known  only 
from  reliable  information. 

The  country  to  be  traversed  by  the  proposed  road,  exhibits  but  two  great  features — 
the  prairies,  reaching  to  about  the  one  hundred  and  fifth  degree  of  longitude,  and  the 
mountains  with  which  it  is  bristling  from  that  point  to  the  snores  of  the  Pacific  ocean. 
Soi-'.e  years  of  travel  among  thete  mountains,  during  which  I  was  occupied  principally 
in  searching  for  convenient  passes  and  good  lines  of  communication,  gradually  led  me 
to  comprehend  their  structure,  and  to  understand  that  among  this  extended  mass  of 
mountains,  there  is  nowhere  to  be  found  a  great  continuous  range,  having  an  unbroken 
crest,  where  passes  are  only  to  be  found  in  the  comparatively  small  depressions  of  the 
summit  line. 

Throughout  this  great  extent  of  country,  sti etching  in  each  way  about  seventeen  de- 
grees, all  these  apparently  continuous  ranges  are  composed  of  lengthened  blocks  of 
mountains,  separate  and  detached,  of  greater  or  less  length,  according  to  the  magnitude 
of  the  chain  they  compose — each  one  possessir gits  separate,  noted  and  prominent  peaks, 
and  lying  parallel  to  each  other,  but  not  usually  so  to  the  general  direction  of  the  range, 
but  in  many  cases  lying  diagonally  across  it,  springing  suddenly  up  from  the  general 
level  of  the  country ;  sometimes  rising  into  bare  and  rocky  summits  of  great  height,  they 
leave  openings  through  the  range  but  little  above  this  general  level,  and  by  which  they 
can  be  passed  without  climbing  a  mountain.  Generally,  these  openings  are  wooded  val- 
ley?, where  the  mountain  springs  from  either  »ide  collect  together,  forming  often  the 
main  branches  of  some  mighty  stream.  Aggregated  together  in  this  way,  they  go  on 
to  form  the  great  chains  of  the  Rocky  mountains  and  Sierra  Nevada,  as  well  as  the 
smaller  and  secondary  ranges  which  occupy  the  intervening  space  With  the  gradual 
discovery  of  this  system,  I  became  satisfied,  not  only  of  the  entire  practicability,  but  of 
the  easy  construction  of  a  railroad  across  this  rugged  region.  As  this  peculiarity  of  the 
country  forma  the  basis  of  my  information,  I  desire  to  state  it  clearly  at  the  outset,  in 


6 

order  that  I  may  be  more  readily  understood  in  proceeding  to  show  that  this  continent 
can  be  crossed  from  the  Mississippi  to  the  Pacific,  without  climbing  a  mountain,  and  on 
the  very  line  which  evary  national  consideration  would  require  to  connect  the  great 
Valley  of  the  West  with  the  Pacific  ocean. 

In  describing  the  belt  of  country  through  which  the  road  should  pass,  it  will  be  found 
convenient  to  divide  the  entire  line  into  three  parts— the  eastern,  reaching  from  the  mouth 
of  the  Kansas  to  the  head  of  the  Del  Norte;  the  middle,  from  the  head  of  the  Del  Norte 
to  the  rim  of  the  Great  Basin;  and  the  western,  from  the  rim  of  the  Great  Basin  to  the 
ocean.  Beginning  near  the  39th  parallel  of  latitude,  at  the  mouth  of  the  Kansas,  the 
road  would  extend  along  the  valley  of  that  river  some  three  or  four  hundred  miles,  tra- 
versing a  beautiful  and  wooded  country  of  great  fertility  of  soil,  well  adapted  to  settle- 
ment and  cultivation.  From  the  upper  waters  of  the  Kansas,  falling  easily  over  into 
the  valley  of  the  Arkansas,  the  road  strikes  that  river  about  a  hundred  miles  below  the 
foot  of  the  mountains,  continuing  up  it  only  to  the  mouth  of  the  Huerfano  river.  From 
this  point,  the  p'rairie  plains  sweep  directly  up  to  the  mountains,  which  dominate  them 
as  high  lands  do  the  ocean.  The  Huerfano  is  one  of  the  upper  branches  of  the  Arkan- 
sas, and  following  the  line  of  this  stream,  the  road  would  here  enter  a  country  magnifi- 
cently beautiful,  timbered,  having  many  coves  or  valleys  of  great  fertility;  having  a  mild 
and  beautiful  climate;  having  throughout  the  valley  country  short  winters,  which  spend 
their  force  in  the  elevated  regions  of  the  mountains.  The  range  of  mountains  in  which 
this  stream  finds  its  head  springs,  is  distinguithed  by  having  its  summits  almost  con- 
stantly enveloped  in  clouds  of  rain  or  snow,  from  which  it  obtains  the  name  of  Sierra 
Mojada,  or  Wet  mountain.  This  chain  is  remarkable  among  the  Rocky  mountain 
ranges  for  the  singular  grandeur  of  its  winter  scenery,  which  has  been  characterized  by 
travelers,  who  have  seen  both,  as  unsurpassed  either  in  the  Alps  or  the  Himalaya. 
Their  naked,  rocky  summits  are  grouped  into  numerous  peaks,  which  rise  from  the 
midst  of  black  piney  forests,  whence  many  small  streams  go  to  the  valley  below.  Follow- 
ing by  an  open  wagon  way,  the  Valley  of  the  Huerfano,  the  road  reaches  the  immediate 
foot  of  the  mountain,  at  the  entrance  of  a  remarkable  pass,  almost  everywhere  sur- 
rounded by  bold,  rocky  mountain  masses.  From  one  foot  of  the  mountain  to  the  other, 
the  pass  is  about  five  miles  long,  a  level  valley  from  two  to  four  hundred  yards  wide, 
the  mountains  rising  abruptly  on  either  side.  With  scarcely  a  distinguishable  rise  from 
the  river  plains,  the  road  here  passes  directly  through  or  between  the  mountains,  emerg- 
ing in  the  Valley  of  the  Del  Norte,  here  some  forty  or  fifty  miles  broad,  or  more  pro- 
perly a  continuation  northward  of  the  valley  in  which  the  Del  Norte  runs.  {'I km  is 
the  Pass  El  Sangrt  de  Chruto — Blood  of  Christ — in  the  Sierra  Blanea — White 
Mountain — described  in  Lfraux's  statement,  but  the  names  of  which  were  unknown 
to  Col.  Freemont.)  Crossing  this  flat  country,  or  opening  between  the  mountains, 
and  encountering  no  water-course  in  its  way,  the  road  would  reach  the  entrance  of  a 
pass  in  the  Colorado  mountains,  familiarly  known  to  the  New  Mexican  and  Indian 
traders,  who  are  accustomed  to  traverse  it  all  seasons  of  the  year,  and  who  represent  it 
as  conducting  to  the  waters  of  the  Colorado  river  through  a  handsome  rolling  grass- 
covered  country,  and  affording  practicable  wagon  routes.  (This  is  the  Coo-cha  tope 
Pas?  described  by  Mr.  Leroux.} 

This  section  of  the  route,  so  far  as  the  entrance  to  this  pass,  covering  twelve  degrees 
of  longitude,  I  am  able  to  speak  of  from  actual  exploration,  and  to  say  that  the  line  de- 
scribed is  not  only  practicable,  but  affords  many  and  singular  facilities  for  the  construc- 
tion of  a  railway,  and  offers  many  advantages  in  the  fertile  and  wooded  country  through 
which  it  lies  in  the  greater  part  of  its  course. 

In  the  whole  distance  there  is  not  an  elevation  worthy  of  the  name  to  be  surmounted, 
and  a  level  of  about  eight  thousand  feet  is  gained  without  almost  perceptible  ascent. 
Up  the  Kansas  and  Huerfano  river  valleys,  the  country  is  wooded  and  watered;  the 
Valley  of  the  Del  None  is  open,  but  wood  is  abundant  in  the  neighboring  mountains, 
and  land  fit  for  cultivation  is  found  almost  continuously  along  the  water-courses,  from 
the  mouth  of  the  Kansas  to  the  head  of  the  Valley  of  the  Del  Norte 

A  journey,  undertaken  in  the  winter  of  1848-9,  (and  interrupted  here  by  entering 
more  to  the  southward  the  rugged  Mountain  of  St.  John's,  one  of  the  most  impractica- 
ble on  the  continent,)  was  intended  to  make  a  correct  examination  of  this  pass,  and  the 
country  beyond  to  the  rim  of  the  Great  Basin.  The  failure  of  this  expedition,  leaves 
only  for  this  middle  portion  of  our  line  such  knowledge  as  we  have  been  able  to  obtains 
from  trappers  and  Indian  traders.  The  information  thus  obtained,  had  led  me  to  at- 
tempt its  exploration,  as  all  accounts  concurred  in  representing  it  practicable  for  a 
road 5  and  the  information  thus  obtained  was  considered  to  be  sufficiently  reliable. 


(The  statement  of  Mr.  Leroux  fills  up  this  gap,  and  describes  this  "  middle  portion;" 
and  confirms  the  whole  view  taken  of  the  structure  of  the  mountains,  and  shows  the 
500  miles  from  the  head  of  the  Del  Norte  to  Las  Vegas  de  Santa  Clara,  across  the 
Valley  of  the  Upper  Colorado,  to  be  a  fine  country.) 

According  to  this  information,  the  same  structure  of  the  country  to  which  I  have 
called  your  attention  above,  as  forming  a  system  among  the  mountains,  holds  good; 
and  I  accordingly  found  no  difficulty  in  believing  that  the  road  would  readily  avoid  any 
obstacles  which  might  be  presented  in  the  shape  of  mountain  ranges,  and  easily  reach 
the  Basin. 

In  pronouncing  upon  the  practicability  of  a  road  through  this  section,  I  proceed  upon 
my  general  knowledge  of  the  face  of  the  country,  upon  information  received  from  hunters 
and  residents  in  New  Mexico,  and  upon  the  established  fact,  that  it  has  not  only  been 
traveled,  but  at  all  seasons  of  the  year,  and  is  one  of  the  travelling  routes  from  New 
Mexico  to  California. 

The  third  section  of  the  map  is  from  the  Wahsatch  mountain  to  the  Sierra  Nevada, 
and  thence  to  the  Bay  of  San  Francisco.  This  route  traverses  the-  Great  Basin,  pre- 
senting three  different  lines,  which  you  will  find  indicated  on  the  map.  Repeated 
journeys  have  given  me  more  or  less  knowledge  of  the  country  along  these  lines,  and  I 
consider  all  of  them  practicable,  although  the  question  of  preference  remains  to  be  settled. 
The  northern  line  is  that  of  the  Humboldt  river,  which,  although  deflecting  from  the 
direct*course  to  the  Bay,  commands  in  its  approach  to  the  mountains  several  practicable 
passes,  the  lowest  of  which  is  only  4,500  feet  above  the  sea. 

The  southern  line,  which  in  crossing  the  Basin  has  not  the  same  freedom  from  ob- 
struction enjoyed  by  the  open  ri^lr  line  of  the  North,  is  still  entirely  practicable,  and 
possesses  the  advantage  of  crossing  the  Sierra  Nevada  at  a  remarkably  low  depression, 
called  Walker's  Pass,  more  commonly  known  as  the  Point  of  the  Mountains,  and 
being  in  fact  a  termination  of  one  of  the  mountains  which  go  from  that  chain. 

This  pass  is  near  the  35th  degree  of  latitude,  and  near  the  head  of  the  beautiful  and 
fertile  Valley  of  the  San  Joaquin;  which  the  road  thence  would  follow  down  to  its  junc- 
tion with  the  Sacramento,  or  to  some  point  on  the  Bay.  This  route  deflects  to  the 
south  about  as  rauch  as  the  other  does  to  the  north,  but  secures  a  good  way,  and  finds 
no  obstacle  from  the  Sierra,  turning  that  mountain  where  it  has  sunk  down  nearly  to 
he  level  of  the  country.  Among  the  recent  proceedings  of  the  California  legislature, 
resolations  were  introduced  in  favor  of  bringing  in  the  rail-way  at  this  pass. 

The  third  line,  which  is  the  middle  and  direct  line,  and  that  to  which  I  gave  a  decid- 
ed preference,  is  less  known  to  me  than  either  of  the  others  ;  but  I  believe  fully  in  its 
practicability,  and  only  see,  as  the  principal  obstacle  to  be  overcome,  the  Great  Sierra 
itself,  which  it  would  strike  near  its  centre.  That  obstacle  is  not  considered  insurmount- 
able, nor  in  the  present  state  of  rail-way  science,  sufficient  to  turn  us  from  the  direct 
route.  A  pass  is  known  as  indicated  by  the  line  upon  the  map,  which  labor  would  ren- 
per  practicable.  Other  passes  are  also  known  to  the  north  and  south;  and  if  tunneling 
becomes  necessary,  the  structure  of  the  mountains  is  such  as  to  allow  tunnels  to  be  used 
with  the  greatest  advantage.  Narrow  places  are  presented  where  opposite  gorges  ap- 
proach each  other,  and  a  wall  of  some  two  or  three  thousand  feet  often  separates  points 
which  may  not  be  more  than  a  quarter  or  half  of  a  mile  apart  at  its  base.  It  will  also 
be  remembered,  that  the  Great  Basin  east  of  the  Sierra  Nevada  has  a  general  elevation 
of  over  four  thousand  feet,  so  that  the  mountain  would  be  approached  on  the  east  at 
that  elevation;  and  on  the  west  the  slope  is  wide,  though  descending  to  near  the  level 
of  tide  water. 

The  foregoing  Remarks  embody  all  the  general  information  I  am  now  able  to  give 
upon  this  line.  The  first  section  of  it,  from  the  Missouri  frontier  to  the  head  of  the 
Del  Norte,  is  explored,  and  needs  no  further  reconnoisance.  It  is  ready  for  the  location 
of  the  road  by  a  practical  engineer.  The  second  and  third  sections  require  further  ex- 
plorations to  determine,  not  upon  practicability,  but  upon  the  preference  due  to  one  over 
the  others.  \v 

A  party  of  three  hundred  men,  skilfully  directed,  with  the  assistance  of  tkree  or  four 
practical  road  makers,  would  be  sufficient  to  lay  out  the  whole  route,  and  clear  and 
open  a  common  road  in  the  course  of  the  next  spring  and  summer,  so  as  to  be  passable 
for  wagons  and  carriages,  and  as  rapidly  traversed  as  any  of  the  common  roads  in  the 
United  States. 

The  obstacles  which  I  have  not  mentioned  are,  the  winter  impediment  of  snows,  and 
the  temporary  one  from  the  hostility  of  Indians.  The  latter  can  be  surmounted  by 
military  stations,  sending  out  military  patrols  to  clear  and  scour  the  line.  The  snows 


are  less  formidable  than  would  be  supposed,  from  the  great  elevation  of  the  central  part 
of  the  route. 

They  are  dry,  and  therefore  more  readily  passed  through,  are  thin  in  the  valleys,  and 
remain  on  them  only  during  a  very  brief  winter.  The  winter  of  my  last  expedition 
was  one  of  nnprecedentedly  deep  and  early  snows,  yet  in  the  Valleys  of  the  Kanzas  and 
Arkansas,  it  was  thin;  in  the  Valley  of  Huerfano,  none;  and  in  the  Valley  of  Del 
Norte,  at  the  end  of  November,  but  a  few  inches  deep.  Even  in  this  severe  winter,  on 
the  5th  of  December,  at  the  greatest  elevation  crossed  by  the  eastern  section  of  the  line — 
being  in  the  narrow  pass  between  the  Arkansas  and  Del  Norte — the  snow  was  only 
three  feet  deep;  the  thermomether  at  zero  near  mid-day.  The  weather  in  these  high 
mountains  and  deep  valleys  is  of  a  character  adapted  to  such  localities,  extremely  cold 
on  the  mountains,  while  temperate  in  the  valleys.  I  have  seen  it  storming  for  days  to- 
gether on  the  mountains,  in  a  way  to  be  destructive  to  all  animal  life  exposed  to  it, 
while  in  the  valley  there  would  be  pleasant  sunshine,  and  the  animals  feeding  on  nutri- 
tious grass.  Beyond  the  Rocky  mountains,  the  cold  is  less,  and  the  snows  become  a 
less  and  more  transient  obstacle. 

These  are  my  views  of  a  route  for  the  road  or  roads  (a  common,  one  is  first  wanted) 
from  the  Mississippi  to  the  Pacific.  It  fulfils,  in  my  opinion,  all  the  conditions  of  a 
route  for  a  national  throughfare : 

1st.  It  is  direct.  The  course  is  almost  a  straight  line  from  end  to  end.  St.  Lquis  is 
between  38  and  39;  San  Francisco  is  about  the  same;  the  route  is  between  these  paral- 
lels, or  nearly  between  them  the  whole  way. 

2d.  It  is  central  to  territory.  It  is  through  the  terr^prial  centre  west  of  the  Missis- 
sippi, and  its  prolongation  to  the  Atlantic  ocean  would  be  central  to  the  States  east  of 
that  river.  It  is  also  central  to  business  and  population,  and  unites  the  greatest  com- 
mercial point  in  the  Valley  of  the  Mississippi,  with  the  greatest  commercial  point  on  the 
coast  of  the  Pacific. 

3d.  It  combines  the  advantages  for  making  and  preserving  the  road — wood,  water, 
and  soil,  for  inhabitation  and  cultivation. 

4th.  It  is  a  healthy  route.  No  diseases  of  any  kind  upon  it;  and  the  valetudinarian 
might  travel  it  in  his  own  vehicle,  on  horse,  or  even  on  foot,  for  the  mere  restoration  of 
health  and  recovery  of  spirits. 

It  not  only  fulfils  all  the  conditions  of  a  national  route,  but  it  is  preferable  to  any 
ether.  It  is  preferable  to  the  South  Pass  from  being  near  four  degrees  further  south, 
mor^e  free  from  open  plains,  and  free  from  the  crossing  of  great  rivers.  Its  course  is 
parallel  with  the  rivers,  there  being  but  one  (the  Upper  Colorado)  directly  crossing  its 
line.  There  are  passes  at  the  head  of  the  Arkansas,  in  the  Three  Parks,  and  north  of 
them,  but  none  equal  to  this  by  the  Rio  del  Norte. 

In  conclusion,  I  have  to  say  that  I  believe  in  the  practicability  of  this  work,  and  that 
every  national  consideration  requires  it  to  be  done,  and  to  be  done  at  once,  and  as  a 
national  work,  by  the  United  States. 

Your  obliged  fellow-citizen, 

J.  C.  FREMONT. 

These  two  documents — the  letter  of  Col.  Fremont  and  the  state- 
ment of  Mr.  Leroux — establish  the  facts  which  are  necessary  to 
give  the  Central  route  a  place  in  the  public  mind,  and  to  entitle 
it  to  an  examination  under  the  act  of  Congress ;  ami  in  the  mean- 
time to  satisfy  all  inquirers,  that  this  great  work  is  not  only 
practicable  but  easy,  and  on  the  exact  line  which  every  national 
consideration  would  require  it  to  be  upon,  and  with  every  advan- 
tage of  facile  construction  and  universal  use.  Central  to  the 
Union,  and  embracing  the  business  centres  of  the  Atlantic  and 
Pacific,  and  the  Mississippi  valley  States — on  a  straight  line  with 
San  Francisco  and  St.  Louis,  and  connecting  at  this  latter  point 
with  the  concentrated  steamboat  navigation  of  the  Great  West, 
and  with  the  entire  railroad  system,  from  the  Mississippi  to  the 
Atlantic— straight  and  smooth — not  a  mountain  to  be  climbed, a 


9 

river  or  swamp  to  be  crossed,  a  hill  to  be  tunnelled — wood,  water, 
and  soil  for  continuous  settlement — coal  known  to  be  on  many 
points  of  the  line — the  whole  traversable  in  winter,  and  all  south 
of  39,  38,  and  37  degrees ;  such  is  the  character  of  the  CENTRAL 
route,  and  which  now  claims  a  share  of  the  public  attention,  and 
of  the  Congress  appropriation.  I  shall  ask  for  it  that  justice,  and 
that  it  may  be  examined  by  some  practical  man  whom  I  can 
commend,  and  who  will  have  a  stomach  to  the  work,  and  do  it 
without  talk  or  delay. 

Regarding  it  as  certain  that  the  road' is  to  be  made,  I  now  add 
some  observations  upon  its  character  and  construction  ;  believing 
that  erroneous  ideas  prevail  upon  these  points,  which  the  public 
good  requires  to  be  corrected.  I  am  opposed  to  all  schemes  of 
making  a  job  of  the  work — against  mixing  public  and  private 
interests — against  furnishing  the  means  of  making  the  road  to 
jobbers,  and  then  letting  them  own  it,  and  charge  the  people 
double  upon  condition  of  carrying  for  the  Federal  Government 
free.  I  hold  that  it  should  be  made  by  the  United  States,  so  far 
as  their  territory  extends,  (which  would  be  almost  the  whole  dis- 
tance on  the  Central  route,)  leaving  the  two  ends,  where  it  would 
go  through  States,  to  the  operation  of  State  laws  and  State  au- 
thority. This  would  be  irom  the  Missouri  State  line,  at  the 
mouth  of  the  Kanzas,  to  a  point  on  the  California  State  line,  op- 
posite the  end  of  the  Sierra  Nevada  at  Walker's  Pass — a  distance 
of  21|  degrees  of  longitude,  equal  to  about  1200  miles,  (56  miles 
to  a  degree  in  that  latitude,)  with  a  southern  deflection,  as  it 
went  west,  of  three  and  a  half  degrees.  This  would  be  the  main 
body  of  the  work,  leaving  the  two  ends  to  roads  to  be  made  unoWr 
State  authority,  and  which  are  already  projected,  and  in  some 
degree  commenced  both  in  California  and  Missouri.  In  the  mean- 
time, and  as  a  permanent  help  and  resource  at  each  end  of  the 
road,  there  is  now  steamboat  transportation  of  several  hundred 
miles  at  each  end— from  San  Francisco  half  way  up  the  San 
Joaquin,  or  more;  from  St.  Louis  to  the  mouth  of  the  Kanzas, 
and  up  it  (as  soon  as  the  new  Territory  is  established)  several 
hundred  miles  further.  Stages  also,  and  all  the  usual  land  con- 
veyances, would  be  at  each  end  of  the  national  territorial  road. 

My  idea  is,  that  the  road  should  be  built  by  the  United  States 
by  the  creation  of  a  stock,  hypothecated  upon  the  public  lands, 
and  payable  at  a  fixed  period  at  the  Federal  Treasury ;  and  that 
an  adequate  force  should  be  put  upon  it  to  do  the  work  at  once. 
We  think  nothing  of  levying  an  army  of  fifty  or  an  hundred  thou- 
sand men  for  a  war ;  here  is  an  object  of  more  moment  to  the 
United  States,  and  to  the  WORLD,  than  many  wars ;  and  I  should 
be  in  favor  of  seeing  an  army  of  laborers  employed  upon  it  at 
once',  and  the  work  done  in  seven  years,  instead  of  piddling  at  it 
for  a  lifetime.  And  why  not?  We  can  have  the  money  and  the 
men  ;  and  on  a  line  of  1200  miles  there  would  be  room  for  50,000 
men  to  work  without  elbowing  each  other.  It  would  only  be 
forty  men  to  the  mile.  The  pre-emption  system  would  give  the 


10 

money  and  the  settlers — the  right  kind  of  settlers — men  who 
would  defend  themselves  from  Indians,  and  raise  provisions  for 
the  supply  of  the  road,  and  occupy  it  on  both  sides,  and  from  one 
end  to  the  other,  the  first  season  they  were  allowed  to  do  so. 
The  Indian  title  should  be  extinguished  on  a  breadth  of  fifty  to 
an  hundred  miles,  and  a  mile  reserved  for  the  different  tracks  of 
railroads,  and  for  a  common  road,  and  for  telegraphic  lines.  It 
is  a  work  for  posterity,  and  for  three  continents ;  and  we  should 
elevate  ourselves  to  the  grandeur  of  the  occasion.  The  main  street 
in  the  city  which  Alexander  the  Great  founded  to  supercede  Tyre, 
in  the  East  India  trade,  was  five  miles  long  and  a  thousand  feet  wide, 
with  a  colonnaded  and  covered  footway  of  100  feet  on  each  side. 
There  were  men  of  ample  ideas  in  those  times,  and  still  it  was 
not  the  age  that  built  the  pyramids.  "From  the  summit  of  those 
pyramids,  said  the  conqueror  of  the  Mamelukes,  forty  centuries 
look  down  upon  us."  The  time  will  come  when  forty  centuries 
may  look  back  upon  this  road ;  and  they  should  not  be  left  to  re- 
pine at  the  improvidence  which  would  dwindle  it  to  the  petty 
calculations  of  jobbers,  corporators,  and  speculators. 

I  repeat ;  I  deem  all  schemes  of  making  this  road  by  a  mixture 
of  public  and  private  means ;  giving  lands  or  money  to  compan- 
ies to  make  it,  and  then  let  them  own  it ;  conveying  for  the 
United  States  gratis,  and  doubling  upon  the  people  to  make  it 
up ;  getting,  in  addition  to  their  other  profits,  interest  upon  the 
cost  of  construction,  and  which  cost  was  defrayed  by  the  United 
States ;  and  all  this  crowned  with  a  monopoly  of  the  road ;  1 
deem  all  such  schemes  to  be  fundamentally  unwise,  unjust  to  the 
cjjpmunity,  impolitic,  and  vicious.  I  hold  that  the  United  States 
should  build  the  road  and  the  fixtures,  and  let  out  the  use  of  it 
for  periods  of  seven  or  ten  years  to  contractors,  who  will  carry 
all  freight,  public  and  private,  and  all  passengers,  individual  and 
governmental,  at  the  same  rate — the  lowest  responsible  bidder  to 
take  the  contract  and  furnish  his  own  cars  and  run  them ;  and  if 
under  bid,  at  the  end  of  his  time,  or  superceded,  the  successor  to 
take  all  his  stock  at  valuation. 

It  is  an  illusion  and  a  cheat,  to  suppose  that  contractors  will 
carry  for  the  United  States  gratis.  They  will  get  their  pay 
somewhere,  and  ought ;  and  the  fair  way,  and  the  only  intelligi- 
ble way,  and  the  only  way  for  each  party  to  know  what  they 
are  about,  is  for  the  Uuited  States  to  pay  like  an  individual  for 
all  that  is  done  for  it.  It  is  the  only  way  to  save  the  people  from 
being  oppressed  and  plundered.  Besides,  what  is  the  Govern- 
ment— our  Government — but  the  people  ?  Why  rob  one  pocket  to 
put  in  the  other?  Why  rob  individuals  in  detail,  to  give  to  the 
community  as  a  Government,  especially  when  it  is  very  certain 
that  the  individuals  double  charged  will  never  get  back  any  part 
of  their  money  ?  The  United  States  pay  their  ocean  steamers  for 
all  they  carry,  and  that  enormously,  and  to  the  establishment  of 
oppressive  monopolies ;  why  not  pay  their  land  steamers  fairly 
and  equitably,  instead  of  throwing  the  burden  upon  the  travelling 


11 

and  the  business  community  ?  This  road  is  to  be  a  long  one,  and 
intended  for  universal  use,  and  travel  and  freight  upon  it  should 
be  made  as  cheap  as  possible.  Besides  our  own  trade,  and  our 
travel,  the  trade  and  travel  of  Europe  with  Asia  should  go  upon 
it.  A  free  road — that  is  to  say,  a  road  which,  like  the  ocean  or  a 
river,  charges  nothing  for  its  use — is  the  first  great  step  towards 
cheap  transportation ;  and  for  the  Government  to  pay  like  indi- 
viduals is  the  second  and  completing  step  to  that  cheapness. 

I  now  add  some  notices  on  the  line  of  country  over  which  this 
route  would  pass,  with  the  view  of  showing  the  facility  of  making 
the  road,  and  the  capabilities  of  the  country  for  continuous,  popu- 
lous, and  powerful  settlements  all  along  it. 

1.  THE  KANZAS  RIVER. — Its  mouth  is  in  lat.  39,  Ion.  94 J,  eleva 
tionof  the  country  700  feet  above  the  level  of  the  Gulf  of  Mexico 
Its  head  is  in  lat.  39,  Ion.  103,  elevation  about.  4,000  feet,  and  its 
course  (the  Smoky  Hill  fork)  nearly  straight,  and  skirting  the 
latitude  of  39  all  the  way.     It  has  four  forks,  all  close  together, 
and  parallel  to  each  other.     It  is  without  falls,  and  its  valley,  if 
that  can  be  called  valley,  which  is  nearly  on  a  level  with  the 
prairies  on  each  side,  is  fertile,  grassy,  and  wooded.     The  two 
main  forks,  the  Smoky  Hill  and  Republican,  (where  the  United 
States  is  now  establishing  a  fort,)  is  in  latitude  39  degrees,  3 
minutes,  longitude  96  degrees,  24  minutes,  elevation  926  feet 
above  the  Gulf  of  Mexico.     Fremont  describes  the  two  streams 
(1st  of  June)  as  too  deep  to  be  forded,  and  the  country  as  beauti- 
fully watered  with  numerous  streams,  and  handsomely  timbered, 
some  of  the  oaks  five  or  six  feet  in  diameter,  the  soil  a  rich,  black 
vegetable  mould.     Higher  up,  and  half  way  up  the  Smoky  Hill 
fork,  he  describes  the  country  as  still  assimilating  to  northwest 
Missouri,  the  river  having  a  uniform  breadth  of  80  to  100  yards, 
with  many  small  streams  falling  in,  wooded  with  oak,  large  elms 
and  the  usual  varieties  of  timber  common  to  the  lower  part  of 
the  river.     The  mouth  of  the  river  is  in  communication  with  the 
rich  and  populous  country  of  Missouri,  with  supplies  of  every 
kind  at  hand,  and  transportation  easy  up  the  Kanzas  river  by 
water,  and  over  the  clean  level  prairies  now  traversed  by  annual 
thousands  of  wagons. 

2.  THE  UPPER  ARKANSAS  AND  ITS  VALLEY. — Taking  Bent's  Fort, 
near  the  mouth  of  the  Huerfano,  as  a  point  in  the  line,  and  its 
latitude  is  about  38,  longitude  103^,  and  elevation  above  4,000 
feet.     Its  head  is  about  latitude  39,  and  there  are  several  Pueblo's 
above,  where  Indian  corn,  other  grain  and  vegetables  are  grown, 
and  cattle,  sheep  and  horses  are  raised,  which  shelter  and  feed 
themselves  all  the  winter.     There  is  wood  upon  the  river,  both 
above  and  below  the  fort,  and  it  is  fordable  any  where  for  some 
hundreds  of  miles.     It  has  the  aspect  of  a  settled  country,  and 
Fremont  speaks  of  travelling  both  above  and  below  the  fort, 
"along  a  broad  wagon  road"     Soil  good  for  cultivation. 


12 

3.  HUERFANO  OR  ORPHAN  RIVER. — The  mouth  is  just  above  Bent's 
Fort,  and  therefore  it  has  about  the  same  geographical  position. 
It  comes  in  from  the  southwest,  and  its  head  is  in  about  latitude 
37^,  and  longitude  105^,  elevation  not  known,  but  not  considera- 
ble as  it  has  no  falls.     It  flows  through  an  open  country,  traversa- 
ble  on  a  broad  space,  having  the  Sierra  Mohada,  or  Wet  Moun- 
tain, on  the  west,  and  is  the  line  of  approach  to  the  Pass  El 
Sangre  de  Christo,  and   others  which  lead  through  the  Sierra 
Blanca,   (in  which  it  heads,)  into  the  head  valley  of  the  Del 
Norte.     Fremont  found  no  snow  in  this  Pass. 

4.  THE  VALLEY  OF  ST.  Louis. — This  is  the  head  valley  of  the 
Dei  Norte,  about  between  latitude  37  and  38,  and  between  longi- 
tude 105  and  107 — elevation  not  known.     Fremont  and  Lerotix 
both  describe  it  as  rich  and  beautiful,  valuable  in  itself,  and  the 
more  so  as  being  about  half  way  between  St.  Louis  and  San 
Francisco.     The  United  States  have  the  Fort,  (Massachusetts,) 
in  it,  and  it  is  filling  up  with  settlers.     It  must  have  an  area  of 
5  or  6,000  square  miles,  is  nearly  surrounded  by  grand  moun- 
tains, and  must  be  one  of  the  finest  and  most  picturesque  moun- 
tain valleys  in  the  world.     Fremont  found  but  little  snow  in  it. 

5.  THE  PASS  COO-CHA-TOPE,  OR  EL.PUERTO. — Its  latitude  is  believed 
to  be  near  39,  longitude  about  107^,  elevation  hardly  less  than 
7,000  feet.     It  is  a  continuation  of  the  St.  Louis  valley,  narrowed 
down  to  eight  miles,  level,  and  no  obstruction  but  a  dense  forest 
of  large  pines.     Several  trails  lead  through  it,  and  many  from  it 
towards  the  West.     The  first  western  water  is  the  Rio  Compadre, 
a  branch  of  the  Grand  river,  or  east  fork  of  the  Great  Colorado. 
From  what  Leroux  tells  me.  the  whole  breadth  of  eight  miles  is 
good  for  a  road,  and  he  himself  never  followed  any  particular 
trail  on  going  through  it.     It  is  a  magnificent  Pass,  worthy  to  be 
called  EL  PUERTO,  (THE  GATE,)  and  worthy  to  open  the  door  from 
the  East  to  the  great  western  slope  of  the  North  American  con- 
tinent, and  in  the  right  place,  and  accompanied  by  all  advan- 
tages. 

From  this  Pass  to  the  mouth  of  the  Kanzas  the  face  of  the 
country  is  an  inclined  plane,  level  to  the  eye,  but  rising  under  the 
barometer — the  country  broad  and  open,  and  traversable  any 
where.  The  coal  fields  of  Missouri  are  known  to  extend  high  up. 
Fremont  says  it  is  ready  for  the  operative  engineer  to  go  and  lay 
down  the  road. 

6.  THE  VALLEY  OF  THE  UPPER  COLORADO. — This  large  valley  lies 
between  the  latitudes  37  aud  44,  and  between  longitudes  107  and 
113,  and  is  crossed  by  the  Great  Spanish  Trail  probably  about 
latitude  38.     Its  elevation   at  the  crossing  of  Green  river,  the 
main  fork,  may  be  conjectured  at  between  4  and  5,000  feet,  being 
ascertained  by  Fremont  to  be  6,000  feet,  where  he  crossed  the 
same  river  two  or  three  degrees  higher  up.     It  is  large  enough 


for  a  great  State,  and  has  sufficient  tillable  land,  with  wood  and 
prairie  intermixed,  and  a  milder  climate  than  in  corresponding 
latitudes  east  of  the  mountains.  It  is  famous  for  its  many  streams 
of  good  water,  and  is  not  known  to  present  any  obstruction  to  a 
road.  The  two  principal  streams  (Green  and  Grand  rivers)  are 
easily  passed,  the  latter  usually  fordable — the  former  usually 
ferried. 

7.  LAS  VEGAS  DE  SANTA  CLARA. — This  will  be  an  important 
stage  in  the  route,  being  the  terminating  point  of  the  good  coun- 
try, and  the  commencement  of  what  is  called  the  desert;  and  as 
such  is  already  settled  by  the  Mormons,  as  are  two  other  places 
before  you  get  to  it — one,  Nicollet's  river,  the  other  the  Ojo  San 
Jose,  spring  of  St.  Joseph.     Its  latitude,  according  to  Fremont, 
37|  degrees,  its  longitude   115|,  elevation  above  the  sea  5,280 
feet.     It  is  described  by  Fremont  as  a  mountain  meadow,  rich  in 
bunch  grass,  and  fresh  with  numerous  springs  of  clear  water,  all 
refreshing  and   delightful  to  look  upon  ;  the  meadow,  about  a 
mile  wide  and  ten  miles  long,  bordered  by  grassy  hills  and  moun- 
tains, some  of  them  rising  two  thousand  feet,  and  still  white  with 
snow  down   to   the  level    of  the   Vegas,   (May   12,)   while   the 
weather  was  hot  in  the  desert  from  which  he  had  issued.     From 
this  point  a  pretty  stream  called  the  Santa  Clara,  fork  of  the  Rio 
Virgen,  (River  of  the  Virgin,)  issues  to  the  south,  and  reaches  the 
Great  Colorado   of  the  west,  and  has  a  good  cultivation  on  the 
lower  part  of  it.     From  Las  Vegas  the  trail  bears  southwest  to 
reach  Los  Angeles,  and  makes  an  elbow  which  it  will  be  neces- 
sary to  cut  off  to  go  nearly  due  west  to  Walker's  Pass.     This  de- 
sert is  above  three  degrees  of  longitude  in  breath — from  115^  to 
118^ — and  is  generally  sterile,  and  deficient  in  grass  and  water, 
though  daily  camping  grounds  are  found,  and  the  great  annual 
caravans  of  many  thousands  of  horses  from  California  to  New  Mex- 
ico, were  accustomed  to  travel  it.     Col.  Fremont  was  sure  of 
finding  a  direct  way  across  it,  and  saw  at  a  distance  a  range  of 
mountains  lying  east  and  west,  along  the  southern  base  of  which 
he  expected  to  find  wood,  water,  and  soil. 

8.  WALKER'S  PASS. — This  is  the  south  end  of  the  Sierra  Ne- 
vada, in  lat.  35|,  and  Ion.  118J,  and  opens  into  the  head  of  the 
beautiful  valley  of  San  Joaquin  ;  and  certainly,  short  of  Paradise, 
there  is  nothing  more  sweet  and  beautiful  than  the  entry  into 
that  valley  at  this  Pass.     Fremont  thus  describes  it  as  first  seen 
by  him  the   14th  of  April,  1845:  "One  might  travel  the  world 
over  without  finding  a  valley  more  fresh  and  verdant — more  floral 
and  sylvan — more  alive  with  birds  and  animals — more  bounte- 
ously watered,  than  we  had  left  in  the  San  Joaquin.     The  air 
was  filled  with  perfume  as  if  we  were  entering  a  highly  cultiva- 
ted country;  and  instead  of  green,  our  pathway  and  the  moun- 
tain sides  were  covered  with  fields  of  yellow  flowers,  which  here 
was  the  prevailing  color.     Gooseberries  were  nearly  ripe.     We 


14 

were  in  the  midst  of  an  advanced  spring.  Snow  was  in  sight  on 
the  butte  of  the  mountain  which  frowned  down  upon  us  on  the 
right ;  but  we  beheld  it  now  with  feelings  of  pleasant  security, 
as  we  rode  along  between  green  trees  and  on  flowers,  with  hum- 
ming birds  and  other  feathered  friends  of  the  traveller  enlivening 
the  serene  spring  air.  Taking  into  consideration  the  nature  of 
the  Sierra  Nevada,  we  found  this  Pass  an  excellent  one  for 
horses ;  and  with  a  little  labor,  or  perhaps  a  more  perfect  exam- 
ination of  the  localities,  it  might  be  made  sufficiently  practicable 
for  wagons.  Its  elevation  was  not  taken,  our  half  wild  caval- 
cade making  troublesome  to  halt  before  night  when  once  started." 
With  this  Pass,  the  last  obstacle  is  cleared  on  this  route  to  San 
Francisco.  The  Sierra  Nevada  is  passed ;  the  beautiful  valley 
of  San  Joaquin  is  entered  ;  the  gold  region  is  almost  reached ; 
steamboat  navigation  is  near;  a  railroad  is  already  projected ; 
you  are  in  Tulare  county,  in  the  midst  of  settlements ;  and  can 
say,  I  AM  IN  CALIFORNIA. 

Thus,  not  only  the  practicability,  but  the  absolute  ease  of 
building  the  railroad  to  California  is  demonstrably  shown,  and 
through  a  country  all  the  way  good  for  continuous  and  populous 
settlements,  and  on  the  very  line  where  every  national  and  com- 
mercial consideration  would  require  it  to  be,  and  where  there  is 
not  more  snow  than  in  the  railroad  tracks  of  New  England  and 
New  York  and  Western  Pennsylvania ;  and  that  dry  and  light, 
and  readily  yielding  to  the  snow  plough.  A  deep  dry  snow  is 
less  impediment  to  the  cars  than  a  thin  wet  one. 

I  have  mentioned  one  step  taken  by  Congress  at  its  late  session 
towards  the  accomplishment  of  this  great  object — the  appropria- 
tion for  surveys.  I  have  to  mention  another  which  will  operate 
in  favor  of  the  Central  route-— the  appropriation  for  extinguish- 
ing Indian  titles  west  of  Missouri,  and  which  will  free  the  way 
from  the  incumbrances  of  Indians,  and  open  the  land  to  pre-emp- 
tion settlers.  I  was  in  hopes  to  have  been  able  to  have  added 
a  third  step  in  its  favor,  and  the  most  important  of  all — that  of 
extending  the  protection  of  law  and  government  to  the  whole 
country  between  Missouri  and  the  Rocky  Mountains,  by  estab- 
lishing the  new  Territory  on  the  Kanzas  and  the  Grand  Platte, 
and  laying  it  open  to  settlement  this  spring;  but  the  bill  failed  in 
the  Senate,  (after  having  passed  the  House  of  Representatives  by 
more  than  two  to  one,)  not  for  want  of  a  majority  in  the  Senate 
in  its  favor,  nor  want  of  time,  but  because  it  was  not  brought 
forward  in  time.  The  Territorial  Committee  reported  it  prompt- 
ly to  the  Senate,  in  company  with  the  additional  Oregon  Territo- 
rial bill ;  but  not  being  called  up  until  near  the  close  of  the  ses- 
sion, it  fell  before  the  kind  of  opposition  which  is  then  always 
fatal — that  of  a  threatened  debate.  It  will  pass  at  the  next 
session. 

I  have  to  regret  that  there  was  no  appropriation  for  the  construc- 
tion of  a  common  road  from  Missouri  to  California  at  this  sesion. 
I  do  not  mean  to  regret  the  loss  of  a  proposition  to  give  land  to 


15 

a  company  to  make  and  protect  such  a  road :  on  the  contrary,  I 
rejoice  at  the  loss  of  that  proposition.  If  it  had  passed  it  would 
have  become  the  prey  of  jobbers*  and  would  have  ended  in  cheat, 
oppression,  fraud,  and  monopoly.  The  way  to  make  the  common 
road  is  for  the  Government  to  do  it  by  an  appropriation  of  money, 
and  leave  its  support  and  protection  to  the  working1  people  who 
would  settle  upon  it  under  the  pre-emption  system.  This  common 
road  is  now  a  want,  and  a  necessity,  for  our  California,  and  Oregon 
emigration.  Forty  or  fifty  thousand  go  annually  from  the  fron- 
tiers of  Missouri  to  these  Territories,  travelling  without  a  tree 
blazed,  or  a  signpost  put  up,  by  the  Federal  Government — ex- 
posed to  every  species  of  suffering  and  danger,  and  now  actually 
marking  out  the  whole  way  by  the  graves  of  the  dead.  The 
Federal  Government  pays  millions  for  ocean  steamers  to  England, 
France,  Germany,  Panama — millions  for  the  protection  of  foreign 
commerce  upon  every  sea — keeps  a  squadron  upon  the  coast  of 
Africa  for  the  protection  of  the  negroes  from  kidnappers  ;  but 
it  does  nothing  for  a  common  road  upon  its  own  territory  from 
the  Mississippi  to  the  Pacific — leaves  its  citizens  to  grope  their 
way  through  the  wilderness,  guided  by  the  graves  of  their  pre- 
decessors, and  adding  to  the  number  by  their  own.  I  will  try 
and  do  something  for  this  common  road  next  year,  and  have 
stages,  and  horse-mails,  and  telegraphic  lines  put  upon  it  for  use 
at  once,  while  building  the  railroad,  to  which  it  would  be  a  great 
help  ;  for  they  would  run  together. 

In  view  of  the  magnitude  of  this  work — in  view  of  our  do- 
minion over  the  public  land  from  Missouri  to  California — in 
view  of  the  immensity  of  travel  and  business  upon  it,  great  at 
the  start,  and  to  increase  for  a  longer  time  than  the  pyramids 
have  stood — I  propose  to  have  the  plan  of  this  road,  or  rather 
systems  of  roads,  on  a  scale  commensurate  to  its  future  destiny, 
be  that  as  great  as  it  may.  I  propose  to  reserve  a  tract  a  mile 
wide  for  all  sorts  of  roads,  rail  and  macadamized,  and  a  plain  old 
English  road,  such  as  we  have  been  accustomed  to  all  our  lives, 
on  which  the  farmer  in  his  wagon,  or  on  his  horse,  and  driving 
his  cattle,  may  go  without  tax  or  fear,  with  none  to  run  over  him, 
or  make  him  jump  out  of  the  way  under  the  penalty  of  being 
crushed.  We  shall  want  tracks  for  many  railways,  necessary  in 
future  time,  and  all  unconnected  and  independant  of  each  other. 
No  monopolies  on  such  a  mighty  line  of  travel  and  transporta- 
tion. Two  margins  of  an  hundred  feet  each  should  be  reserved 
for  independent  and  rival  telegraphic  lines. 

I  have  said  the  public  lands  on  the  line  of  the  road  wrill  build 
it.  Ten  or  twelve  miles  on  each  side  will  do  it,  on  the  pre-emp- 
tion principle,  $1  25  an  acre;  and  the  meritorious  settlers  upon 
that  principle  will  be  the  guard  to  protect  it,  the  hands  to  help 
to  make  it,  and  the  cultivators  to  help  furnish  supplies  to  the 
laborers.  When  done  it  should  be  free,  that  is  no  tolls  upon  it — 
a  road  of  that  length  will  not  bear  tolls,  except  slight  to  keep  it 
in  repair — a  transit  duty  on  foreign  commerce — a  slight  charge 


16 

such  as  all  nations  exact  from  foreign  commerce  traversing  its 
territory — would  be  the  proper  source  for  the  repairs  which 
would  become  necessary ;  and  thus  Europe  would  indemnify  us 
for  the  use  of  our  road. 

CITIZENS  :  It  is  thirty  years  since  I  first  began  to  write  and  to 
speak  on  this  subject  of  American  and  Asiatic  communications, 
and  in  favor  of  a  "  North  American  Road  to  India ;"  and  then  de- 
clared, with  the  confidence  which  belongs  to  conviction  founded 
on  evidence,  that  the  road  would  be  made,  "Immediately  if  aided 
by  the  Federal  Government,  eventually  by  the  progress  of  events 
and  the  force  of  public  opinion  even  without  that  aid"  The  time 
has  come  for  the  fulfilment  of  that  confident  prediction.  Events 
have  advanced  beyond  my  foresight.  Not  only  Oregon,  but  all 
California  is  ours.  We  hold  seventeen  degrees  of  latitude  on  the 
western  coast  of  North  America,  and  have  a  State  and  a  Terri- 
tory there — great  American  communities  where  the  idea  was 
ridiculed  when  I  first  came  to  Congress.  Public  opinion  is  now 
declared — has  become  universal — and  is  triumphant.  Congress 
is  begining  to  move  under  its  stimulus;  politicians  are  putting 
their  shoulders  to  the  wheel.  But  what  is  more  than  Congress 
and  the  politicians,  is  the  PEOPLE  and  the  BUSINESS  POWER  of  the 
Union.  Both  these  great  springs  of  action  are  for  the  road,  and 
not  in  the  west  alone,  but  out  to  the  Atlantic  shore  ;  and  thus  a 
sense  of  interest  combines  with  national  considerations  in  stimu- 
lating its  construction. 

Behold  the  extended  and  ramified  system  of  railways  from  the 
Mississippi  to  the  Atlantic !  What  is  it  but  an  expanded  fan! 
the  top  on  the  Atlantic  coast,  the  spokes  converging  to  St.  Louis ! 
and  the  road  to  San  Francisco  the  handle  to  that  fan,  in  the  ex- 
tension of  which  every  western  and  every  Atlantic  road  would 
find  its  own  participation  in  the  splendid  commerce  of  Western 
America  and  Eastern  Asia. 

THOMAS  H.  BENTON. 

WASHINGTON,  March  4,  1853. 


APPENDIX. 


I  add  to  this  letter  some  brief  extracts,  from  former  writings  and  speeches  on  this  sub- 
ject, for  the  purpose  of  giving  some  views  of  the  history  of  the  East  India  trade,  and 
of  its  influence  in  promoting  the  wealth  and  power,  the  civilization  and  refinement,  and 
the  arts,  sciences  and  literature  of  every  country  that  ever  possessed  it,  or  through 
whose  dominions  it  passed.  The  object  of  the  road  to  the  Pacific  is  twofold,  first,  to 
connect  our  Atlantic  and  Pacific  dominions;  and,  secondly,  to  turn  the  commerce  of 
the  EAST  through  our  country,  and  secure  to  ourselves  the  advantages  of  so  great  an 
acquisition.  The  extracts  given  apply  to  this  latter  object,  and  therefore  become  a 
natural  appendix  to  the  letter,  which  confines  itself  chiefly  to  the  construction  of  the 
road,  and  its  necessity  to  our  internal  communications. 

(A.) 

I. NORTH  AMERICAN  ROAD  TO  INDIA. 

Extracts  from  essays  written  and  published  at  St.  Louis,  in  1819,  by  Thomas  H, 

Benton. 

OUXGOIT. ASIATIC  COMMERCE. 

I.  Commerce  with  Asia. — Spices,  aromatics,   precious  stones,   porcelains,  cottons, 
silks,  and  teas,  are  the  articles  of  Asiatic  commerce.     Silver  and  gold  are  the  articles 
with   which  they   are  purchased.     From  the  earliest  ages  of  the  world,  the  precious 
metals  have  flowed  into  Asia;  and  this  drain,  which  has  been  incessant  for  several  thous- 
and years,  has  become  still  more  enormous  in  latter  times. 

The  American  navigator  sails  to  the  east,  traverses  30,000  miles  of  sea,  doubles  a 
stormy  and  tempestuous  cape,  in  order  to  arrive  in  what  is  called  the  East  Indies.  In 
the  meantime,  what  was  the  EAST  Indies  to  the  ancients  are  the  WEST  Indies  to  the 
Americans;  for  they  lie  to  the  west  of  us,  and  but  a  few  days'  sail  from  our  own  coast. 
The  western  shore  of  North  America  and  the  eastern  shore  of  Asia  front  each  other — 
the  mild  and  tranquil  waves  of  the  Pacific  ocean  alone  intervene — in  the  broadest  part 
as  narrow  as  the  Atlantic,  and  in  the  narrowest,  at  Behring's  Straits,  only  thirty  miles 
apart.  Instead  of  going  to  the  East,  Americans  should  therefore  go  to  the  west  to  ar- 
rive in  Asia;  and  taking  that  route,  they  would  immediately  be  able  to  carry  furs  and 
bread  into  the  markets  of  Asia,  the  first  of  which  is  now  pillaged  from  them  by  Eng- 
lishmen and  Russians,  the  latter  would  have  to  be  raised  from  the  fertile  banks  of  the 
Columbia  river. 

II.  Sought  after  by  all  nations. —During  thirty  centuries  the  nations  of  the  earth 
have  flocked  to  Asia  in  search  of  its  rich  commerce.     Sacred  and  profane  history  ex- 
hibit the  same  picture,  of  merchants  loaded  with  gold  and  silver,  traversing  the  deserts 
on  camels,  or  the  trackless  sea  in  ships  in  search  of  the  rich  productions  of  the  east. 
From  the  time  of  the  Phoenicians  to  the  English  of  the  present  day,  the  countries  of 
eastern  Asia  have  been  the  chief  theatres  of  commercial  enterprise;  and  the  nation  which 
shared  this  commerce  in  the  highest  degree,  has  acquired  in  all  ages  the  first  rank  in  the 
arts,  the  sciences,  in  national  power  and  individual  wealth.     And  such  will  probably  be 
the  case  to  the  end  of  the  world.     Nature  has  made  but  one  Asia,  but  one  country 
abounding  with  the  rich  productions  which  are  found  in  the  East  Indies;  and  while 
mankind  continue  to  love  spices  and  aromatics,  precious  stones,  porcelains,  fine  cottons, 
silks  and  teas,  the  trade  with  Asia,  must  contine  to  be  sought  after  as  the  brightest 
j£wel  in  the  diadem  of  commerce. 

III.  Ancient  channels  of  this  commerce. — These  may  be  traced  by  the  ruins  of  the 
great  cities  which  grew  up  with  the  possession  of  this  trade,  and  perished  with  its  loss. 

Tyre,  "Queen  of  Ci'ie»,"  was  its  first  emporium.     The  commerce  of  the  east  cen- 
tered there  before  the  captivity  of  the  Jews  in  Babylon,   upwards  of  six  hundred  year* 
before  the  coming  of  Christ,  (Rollin. )     She  traded  to  Arabia,  Persia,  and  India.     H«r 
2 


18 

route  was  by  the  Mediterranean  Sea  to  the  coast  of  Egypt,  over  land  to  the  Red  Sea  by 
the  Isthmus  of  Suez,  clown  the  Red  Sea,  and  thence  east  by  coasting  voyages  to  the 
countries  about  the  Gulf  of  Peisia  and  moutns  of  the  river  Indus.  The  possession  of 
this  commerce  made  Tyre  the  richest  and  the  proudest  city  in  the  universe;  gave  her  the 
command  of  the  seas;  '-'•marie,  her  traffickers  the  honorables  of  t^e  earth,"  (Isaiah,) 
and  enabled  her  merchants  to  dispute  with  kings  in  the  splendor  of  their  living  and  the 
vastness  of  their  expenses.  Nebuchadnezzar,  king  of  Babylon,  conquered  Tyre,  and 
razed  it  to  its  foundations;  but  he  did  not  found  a  rival  city,  and  the  continuance  of 
the  Indian  trade  immediately  restored  the  "Queen  of  Cities"  to  all  her  former  degrees 
of  power  and  pre-eminence.  Alexander  conquered  her  again,  founded  a  rival  city  on 
the  coast  of  Egypt,  and  Tyre  became  "a  place  for  fishermen  to  dry  their  nets,"  (Ezekiel.) 

The  Jews,  in  the  time  of  David  and  Solomon,  succeeded  to  the  India  trade.  Their 
route  was  the  same  which  the  Phoenicians  followed  from  Tyre,  and  their  country  be- 
came the  theatre  of  wealth,  and  their  kings  the  arbiters  of  surrounding  nations. 

In  the  reign  of  Darius  Hystaspes,  King  of  Persia,  a  new  route  was  opened  with  India. 
It  lay  from  the  borders  of  Persia  through  the  Caspian  Sea,  up  the  river  Oxus  to  the 
mountains  which  divide  it  from  the  river  Indus,  across  those  mountains  with  the  aid  of 
the  Bactrian  camel,  and  thence  down  the  river  Indus  to  the  countries  about  its  mouth, 
then  the  chief  seat  of  the  India  trade,  and  the  limit  of  the  ancients  in  their  trade  to  the 
east.  This  route  covered  a  distance  of  three  thousand  miles:  six  hundred  on  the  Cas- 
pian Sea,  nine  hundred  on  the  Oxus,  two  or  three  hundred  overland  crossing  the  moun- 
tains, and  about  twelve  hundred  on  the  river  Indus. 

The  foundation  of  Alexandria  created  a  new  emporium,  and  opened  a  new  route  for 
the  commerce  of  the  east,  chosen  with  so  much  judgment,  that  it  continued  to  be  fol- 
lowed from  the  time  of  Alexander  the  Great;  upwards  of  300  years  before  Christ,  till 
the  discovery  of  the  Cape  of  Good  Hope  in  the  fifteenth  century.  This  channel  was 
along  the  canal  of  Alexandria  to  the  Nile,  up  the  Nile  to  Coptus,  thence  across  the 
desert  with  camels  to  the  Red  Sea,  and  thence  a  coasting  voyage  to  the  mouths  of  the 
Indus.  The  Romans,  in  the  flourishing  times  of  the  republic  and  of  the  empire,  de- 
rived their  supplies  of  India  goods  through  this  channel. 

In  the  same  age  another  channel  was  opened  with  India.  It  lay  overland,  across  the 
desert,  from  the  bottom  of  the  Mediterranean  Sea  to  the  river  Euphrates,  down  that 
river  to  the  Gulf  of  Persia,  and  thence  by  the  usual  coasting  voyage  to  the  mouths  of 
the  Indus.  The  distance  between  the  sea  and  the  Euphrates  (two  hundred  miles)  re- 
quired a  station  between  them.  It  was  found  in  a  grove  of  palm  trees;  a  fertile  spot, 
well  watered,  in  the  midst  of  sands,  about  midway  between  the  sea  an,d  the  river.  Its 
inhabitants  entered  with  ardor  in  the  trade  of  conveying  commodities  from  the  river  to 
the  sea.  As  the  most  valuable  productions  of  India,  brought  up  the  Euphrates  from 
the  Persian  Gulf,  were  of  such  small  bulk  as  to  bear  the  expense  of  a  long  land  carriage, 
this  trade  soon  became  so  considerable  that  the  opulence  and  power  of  Palmyra  increased 
rapidly.  (Robertson.)  Its  government  was  best  suited  to  the  genius  of  a  commercial 
city — REPUBLICAN.  (Pliny  the  Elder.)  This  spot  then  began  to  exhibit  the  wonders 
of  which  commerce  is  capable.  From  a  trading  station,  it  became  an  opulent  city,  the 
capital  of  a  great  empire,  the  seat  of  science  and  the  arts,  the  rival  of  Rome.  Rome 
would  bear  no  rival.  One  of  the  most  powerful  of  the  emperors  (Aurelian)  carried  the 
arms  of  the  empire  against  the  "City  of  Commerce"  Palmyra  was  subdued;  its 
trade  diverted  to  other  channels;  and  the  ruins  of  temples  arrest  the  admiration  of  the 
traveller  on  the  spot  which  was  once  the  seat  of  so  much  power  and  magnificence. 
(Volney.) 

After  the  conquest  of  Egypt  by  the  Mahomedans,  the  people  of  the  Roman  empire 
were  shut  out  from  the  port  of  Alexandria.  This  gave  rise  to  the  opening  of  a  new 
channel  for  the  ladia  trade.  Constantinople  became  its  emporium.  This  route  lay 
through  the  Black  Sea  to  the  mouth  of  the  river  Phasis;  up  that  river  and  by  a  land 
carriage  of  five  days  to  the  river  Cyrus,  down  it  to  the  Caspian  Sea;  across  this  sea  three 
hundred  miles,  to  the  mouth  of  the  rner  Oxus;  up  that  river  nine  hundred  miles,  to 
ihe  city  of  Marcanda,  (once  Alexandria,)  now  Samarcand;  thence  across  the  mountains 
to  the  countries  upon  the  river  Indus,  or  eastward  by  a  journey  of  eighty  or  a  hundred 
days,  with  the  Bactrian  camel,  through  desert  countries  and  wandering  nations  which 
considered  the  merchant  as  their  prey,  to  the  western  provinces  of  the  Chinese  empire, 
(Pliny  'he  Elder.)  This  route,  though  long  and  perilous,  made  Constantinople  the 
emporium  of  the  India  trade  for  all  Christian  nations  for  several  centuries  after  the  con- 
quest of  Egypt  by  the  Mahom-.danK,  and  made  it  the  seat  of  wealth  and  power  for  many 
age*  after  the  downfall  of  the  Human  empire. 


19 

IV.  Modern  channels. — Constantinople  continued  to  be  the  emporium  of  the  India 
trade  till  the  fifteenth  century.  The  Venetians  and  Genoese  engaged  in  it.  They  es- 
tablished trading  houses  in  Constantinople,  and  rose  to  power  and  pre-eminence  from 
the  profits  of  this  tiade.  Their  fleets  commanded  the  seas,  at  a  time  when  fleets  were 
jet  unknown  to  the  rest  of  Europe,  and  the  citizens  of  these  republics  displayed  a  mag- 
nificence in  their  living,  which  surpassed  the  state  of  the  greatest  monarchs  beyond  the 
Alps,  (Robertson.)  From  Venice  and  Genoa  the  commerce  of  Asia  spread  into  the 
north  of  Europe.  Burges  and  Antwerp  became  its  emporia,  and  retain  to  this  day 
evident  signs  of  the  wealth  and  splendor  to  which  they  attained.  This  was  the  longest 
and  most  perilous  route  over  which  the  commerce  of  India  has  been  conducted.  It  is 
truly  astonishing  to  think  of  it.  From  Burges  and  Antwerp  to  Genoa  and  Venice, 
thenc*  to  Constantinople,  across  the  Black  Sea,  across  the  Caspian  Sea,  up  the  river 
Oxus  to  Samarcand,  the  limit  of  Alexander's  march  towards  the  northeast  of  Asia:  and 
at  Samarcand  it  seemed  that  the  journey  was  only  beginning,  as  there  commenced  the 
voyage  overland  with  the  Bactrian  camel,  through  desert  regions  and  nations  of  robbers, 
to  be  continued  from  eighty  to  a  hundred  days  to  arrive  in  the  western  provinces  of 
China,  where  the  most  valuable  productions  of  the  east  were  then  found.  Yet  so  great 
were  the  profits  the  trade,  that,  under  all  these  disadvantages,  the  cities  of  Constanti- 
nople, of  Venice,  of  Genoa,  of  Burges  and  Antwerp,  become  the  seats  of  learning  and 
refinement,  of  luxury  and  magnificence,  of  maritime  and  military  power,  when  all  other 
parts  of  Europe  were  sunk  in  poverty  and  ignorance,  darkness  and  barbarism. 

Towards  the  end  of  the  Inth  century,  the  Cape  of  Good  Hope  was  doubled.  A  new 
route  was  then  opened  into  India.  The  Portuguese,  who  made  this  discovery,  became 
the  masters  of  the  India  trade,  destroyed  the  fleets  of  the  Turks  and  Venitians  which 
were  launched  upon  the  Red  Sea  to  keep  open  the  ancient  channel  through  Egypt,  and 
established  a  commercial  empire  in  India.  Portugal  then  became  one  of  the  most  pow- 
erful nations  by  sea  and  land,  and  Lisbon  the  centre  of  European  wealth  and  commerce. 

The  passage  by  the  Cape  of  Good  Hope  (sometimes  by  Cape  Horn)  has  since  con- 
tinued to  be  the  route  to  India. 

The  Portuguese  did  not  long  retain  their  monopolies.  The  Dutch  became  their  com- 
petitors, and  soon  after  their  successor  in  the  India  trade.  Portugal  declined  to  its 
original  insignificance.  Holland  rose  to  wealth  and  power  by  sea  and  land,  and  Am- 
sterdam became  the  principal  mart  of  Europe. 

The  English  followed  the  Dutch,  and  have  surpassed  all  their  predecessors  in  the  suc- 
cessful prosecution  of  the  India  trade.  A  company  of  their  merchants  have  erected  an 
empire  in  India,  maintained  fleets  and  armies,  subjugated  vast  empires,  dethroned  pow- 
erful monarchs,  disposed  of  kingdoms  and  principalities  as  other  merchants  dispose  of 
bales  of  metchandise;  and  with  the  the  riches  thence  derived,  England  (a  spot  no  larger 
than  one  of  our  States)  has  been  able  to  contend  single  handed  against  the  combined 
powers  of  Europe,  to  triumph  over  them,  and  to  impress  her  policy,  more  or  less,  upon 
every  quarter  of  the  globe. 

One  other  route,  among  the  modern  channels  of  commerce,  remains  to  be  mentioned. 
It  is  the  line  followed  by  the  Russians  from  the  city  of  Moscow  to  the  frontiers  of  China. 
By  this  route  the  Russians  carry  on  a  trade  with  China  worth  three  or  four  millions  of 
dollars  per  annum,  in  which  the  productions  of  the  respective  countries  are  bartered 
against  each  other,  almost  the  only  instance  of  trade  by  barter  which  any  nation  has 
carried  on  with  the  people  of  the  east,  but  sufficient  to  show  that  there  are  articlee  for 
which  the  Chinese  will  barter  the  rich  productions  of  their  country.  This  route  is  often 
made  entirely  over  land,  and  is  then  upwards  of  six  thousand  miles  in  length;  some- 
times by  the  river  Wolga,  the  Caspian  Sea,  and  the  river  Oius,  and  thence  over  land  by 
the  ancient  route  from  Constantinople,  which  increases  the  distance  but  relieves  in  some 
degree  the  labor  of  the  voyage  by  substituting  for  a  part  of  the  way  water  for  land  car- 
riage. 

Servilely  following  the  Europeans  in  almost  everything,  the  people  of  the  United 
States  also  follow  them  in  their  route  to  India.  They  quit  Asia  as  it  were,  leave  it  be- 
hind them,  to  sail  thirty  thousand  miles,  doubling  a  formidable  cape  and  braving  th« 
dangers  of  a  tempestuous  sea,  to  arrive  in  a  country  which  is  only  a  few  days'  sail  from 
their  own  continent.  They  do  this  because  the  people  of  Europe,  who  can  do  no  better, 
have  done  so  before  them.  In  the  meantime  the  efforts  of  the  English  to  discover  a 
northwest  passage  to  Asia,  should  convince  them  that  even  the  Europeans  would  not 
submit  to  circumnavigate  the  globe  in  their  voyage  to  India,  if  a  western  route  could  be 
found  through,  or  around,  the  northern  parts  of  the  American  continent.  Still,  with 
all  the  danger*  added  to  the  length  of  the  voyage,  the  East  India  trade  is  the  richest  vejn 


20 

of  American  commerce,  and  soonest  leads  to  the  most  splendid  fortunes;  convincing 
proof  of  what  it  would  be  if  a  new  route  was  opened,  exclusively  American,  short,  safe, 
cheap,  and  direct,  and  substituting  a  trade  in  barter  for  the  present  ruinous  drain  of  gold 
and  silver. 

V.  New  route  proposed  for  the  people  of  the  United  States  by  the  Columbia  and 
Missouri  rivers. — Columbus  was  the  first  who  conceived  the  idea  of  going  west  to  ar- 
rive at  the  East  Indies.  His  discovery  of  America  was  owing  to  that  idea.  He  was  in 
search  of  a  western  passage  to  the  eastern  coast  of  Asia  when  he  was  arrested  by  the 
unexpected  intervention  of  the  American  continent.  Nor  had  he  any  idea  that  he  had 
found  a  new  world.  He  believed  himself  on  the  coast  of  India,  and  under  that  belief 
gave  the  name  of  Indians  to  the  inhabitants;  a  name  which  they  have  retained  ever 
since,  although  the  error  on  which  it  was  founded  has  been  long  since  exploded. 
(Robertson. ) 

La  Salle,  founder  of  the  French  colony  in  the  valley  of  the  Mississippi — a  man  pro- 
nounced by  Mr.  Adams  to  be  second  only  to  Columbus  in  th«  list  of  great  discoverers — 
was  the  next  who  cherished  the  idea  of  going  west  to  india.  The  French  were  then 
masters  of  the  Canadas,  and  were  daily  extending  their  discoveries  to  the  interior  of 
North  America.  The  existence  of  a  chain  of  great  lakes  stretching  westward  being  as- 
certained, he  believed  that  an  inland  passage  to  China  might  be  discovered  by  means  of 
these  lakes  and  the  rivers  flowing  into  the  Pacific  ocean.  (Stoddart.}  Full  of  this 
idea,  he  left  Montreal  about  the  year  1680,  in  the  hope  of  immortalizing  himself  by 
opening  to  his  country  a  new  and  direct  route  to  the  commerce  of  the  East  Indies. 
Parting  from  his  friends  eight  mile*  above  Montreal,  the  last  word  he  said  to  them  was- 
China,  and  the  spot  retains  the  name  (La  Chine)  ever  since.  But  death  arrested  him 
in  the  valley  of  the  Arkansas,  the  fate  which  Columbus  had  so  narrowly  escaped,  that  of 
being  assassinated  by  his  own  followers,  who  had  not  courage  to  follow  him  any  further. 

The  English,  of  all  others  the  most  avaricious  of  the  India  trade,  also  turned  their 
•views  to  the  discovery  of  a  western  passaga  to  Asia.  A  passage  round  the  American 
continent  above  Hudson's  Bay,  was  for  a  lang  time  a  favorite  object  with  the  English 
Government,  and  still  occupies  its  attention.  Numerous  squadrons  had  been  fitted  out, 
and  repeatedly  attempted  the  passage,  sometimes  from  the  northwest  by  Behring's  Straits, 
sometimes  by  the  northeast  through  Hudson's  Bay  and  Davis's  Straits.  The  multiplied 
efforts  to  discover  this  passage  show  the  value  whirh  the  English  place  on  the  discovery 
of  a  direct  route  to  Asia.  But  they  have  not  confined  themselves  to  sea  voyages. 
Taking  up  the  idea  of  La  Salle,  they  have  sought  an  inland  passage  by  means  of  rivers 
and  lakes.  This  project  was  entrusted  to  McKenzie.  Confined  to  the  northern  parts  of 
our  continent,  he  could  only  prosecute  his  discoveries  north  of  the  heads  of  the  Missis- 
sippi and  Missouri  rivers.  He  was  confined  to  high  northern  latitudes,  but  succeeded  in 
showing  the  existence  of  a  water  communication,  with  a  few  portages,  from  Hudson's 
Bay,  north  latitude  55  to  the  Pacific  ocean  in  the  north  latitude  46.  The  Mississippi, 
the  Peace  river,  the  Columbia,  and  some  lakes,  formed  the  means  of  this  communica- 
tion, and  little  useful  as  it  would  seem  to  us  in  a  latitude  so  high,  it  was  deemed  a  dis- 
covery of  great  moment  by  the  English.  McKenzie  received  the  honor  of  knighthood 
for  his  enterprise;  the  British  fur  traders  immediately  began  to  export  their  furs  to  China 
by  the  direct  route  of  the  Columbia,  and  the  privilege  of  navigating  that  river  for  ten 
years  has  been  secured  to  them  by  treaty. 

The  Missouri  above  the  Mandan  villages  was  yet  unknown.  From  the  mouth  of  the 
Mississippi  a  man  of  genius  projected  its  discovery.  In  179ri  the  Baron  de  Carondelet, 
Governor  General  of  Louisiana,  planned  an  expedition  to  the  sources  of  the  Missouri, 
and  thence  to  the  Pacific  ocean.  He  obtained  th«  approbation  of  Charles  IV,  King  of 
Spain.  A  liberal  compensation  was  offered  by  the  King,  and  the  Baron  announced  an 
additional  reward  of  three  thousand  dollars  to  the  persons  who  should  first  see  the  great 
ocean.  The  expedition  was  undertaken  by  Don  Jacques  Glamorgan,  an  enterprising 
citizen  of  St.  Louis,  who  proscuted  it  some  distance  up  the  Missouri  at  great  expense, 
but  without  accomplishing  the  views  of  the  Spanish  Government. 

A  few  years  after,  Louisiana  changed  its  master.  The  eyes  of  Mr.  Jefferson,  taking 
the  direction  of  so  many  eminent  men,  were  turned  upon  the  Pacific  ocean,  and  Under 
his  auspices  the  labors  of  Lewis  and  Clark  have  demonstrated  the  existence  of  a  water 
communication,  with  a  few  portages,  through  the  heart  and  centre  of  the  Republic  from 
the  Atlantic  to  the  Pacific.  The  rivers  Columbia,  Missouri,  and  Ohio,  form  this  line, 
and  open  a  channel  to  Asia,  short,  direct,  safe,  cheap,  and  exclusively  American,  which 
invites  the  enterprise  of  Anerican  citizens,  and  promises  to  them  a  splendid  participation 
in  the  commerce  of  the  East. 


21 

i 

(B.) 

EXTRACT  from  the  speech  m  the  Senate,  February,  1849,  in  favor  of  a  National 
Central  Highway  from  the  Mississippi  to  the  Pacific: 

Nothing,  Mr.  PresiJent,  is  more  essential  than  roads.  It  is  an  old  theme,  fir;  hut  it 
will  bear  the  suggestion  that  no  civilized  people  can  live  without  roads,  and  that  it  is 
the  indispensable  duty  of  every  nation  which  has  acquired  any  new  possessions  to  open 
communication  with  it.  We  know  that  the  Romans — from  whom  we  borrowed  so 
many  of  our  ideas,  useful  or  grand — never  considered  a  conquered  territory  added  to  the 
republic  or  the  empire  until  it  was  perforated  by  a  road.  There  was  no  annexation  in 
their  idea  until  there  was  communication.  The  idea  was  well  founded,  sir,  and  one 
which  we  can  practically  carry  out.  Large  and  grand  as  our  project  of  roads  seems, 
from  the  Mississippi  to  the  Pacific,  and  a  mile  in  width  reserved  for  many  tracks — it  is 
almost  insignificant  compared  to  the  roads  of  the  Roman  empire.  Her  territory  was 
not  greater  than  ours — not  so  compact — her  population  not  so  homogeneous  as  ours, 
nor  at  the  gieaie&l  us  great  as  ours  will  be  in  the  lifetime  of  the  child  now  born;  and  yet 
her  roads  far  transcended  in  length  and  number  anything  that  we  now  propose.  Here 
is  what  Gibbon  says.  After  enumerating  the  four  thousand  cities  belonging  to  the  Ro- 
man empire  in  Europe,  Asia,  and  Africa,  he  goes  on  to  say: 

"All  these  cities  were  connected  with  each  other,  and  with  the  capital,  by  the  public 
highways,  which,  issuing  from  the  forum  of  Rome,  traversed  Iialy,  prevaded  the  provin- 
ces, and  were  terminated  only  by  the  frontiers  of  the  empire.  If  we  carefully  trace  the 
distance  from  the  wall  of  Antoninus  to  Rome,  and  from  thence  to  Jerusalem,  it  will  be 
found  that  the  great  chain  of  communication,  from  the  northwest  to  the  southeast  point 
of  the  empire,  was  drawn  out  to  the  length  of  four  thousand  and  eighty  Roman  miles. 
The  public  roads  were  usually  divided  by  mile-stones,  and  ran  in  a  direct  line  from  one 
city  to  another,  with  very  little  respect  for'the  obstacles  either  of  nature  or  private  prop- 
erty. Mountains  were  perforated,  and  bold  arches  thrown  over  the  broadest  and  most 
rapid  streams.  The  middle  part  of  the  road  was  raised  into  a  terrace  which  command- 
e.d  the  adjacent  country,  consisted  of  several  strata  of  sand,  gravel,  and  cement,  and  was 
paved  with  large  stones,  or  in  some  places,  near  the  capital,  with  granite.  Such  was 
the  solid  construction  of  the  Roman  highways,  whose  firmness  has  not  entirely  yielded 
to  the  effort  of  fifteen  centuries.  They  united  the  subjects  of  the  most  distant  provinces 
by  an  easy  and  familiar  intercourse  ;  but  their  primary  object  had  been  to  facilitate  the 
marches  of  the  legions  ;  nor  was  any  country  considered  as  subdued,  till  it  had  been  ren- 
dered, in  all  its  parts,  pervious  to  the  arms  and  authority  of  the  conquerer.  The  advan- 
tage of  receiving  the  earliest  intelligence,  and  of  conveying  their  orders  wi'h  celerity, 
induced  the  Emperors  to  establish  throughout  their  extensive  dominions  the  regular  in- 
stitution of  posts.  Houses  were  everywhere  erected  at  the  distance  only  of  five  or  six 
miles;  each  of  them  was  constantly  provided  with  forty  horses,  and  by  the  help  of  these 
relays,  it  was  easy  to  travel  an  hundred  miles  in  a  day  along  the  Roman  roads.  The 
use  of  the  posts  was  allowed  to  those  who  claimed  it  by  an  imperial  mandate  ;  but, 
though  originally  intended  for  the  public  service,  it  was  sometimes  indulged  to  the  busi- 
ness or  conveniency  of  private  citizens." 

Such  was  the  extent  and  solidity  of  the  Roman  roads — a  single  line  of  road  above 
4,000  Roman,  and  equal  to  3,740  English  miles — and  the  4,000  cities  of  the  empire 
all  connected  with  roads  of  equal  solidity  besides.  The  road  which  we  propose  is  only 
half  the  length  of  one  chain  of  theirs.  I  mention  them  for  their  magnificence — their 
grandeur — and  as  presenting  an  example  worthy  of  our  imitation.  The  road  I  propose 
is  necessary  to  us,  and  now.  We  want  it  now.  The  state  of  our  possessions  on  the 
Pacific  demands  it.  The  time  to  begin  has  arrived.  All  the  necessary  information  is 
on  hand.  The  means  are  ready.  The  title  to  Oregon  is  settled,  and  a  government  es- 
tablished there,  and  population  is  growing  up.  California  is  acquired  :  people  are 
there :  and  a  government  must  follow.  We  have  a  fleet  on  that  coast — troops  there, 
and  going.  Streams  of  population  are  concentrating  there.  Since  the  discovery  of  the 
New  World  by  Columbus  there  has  not  been  such  an  unsettling  of  the  foundations  of 
society.  Not  merely  individuals  and  companies,  but  communities  and  nations  are  in 
commotion,  all  hound  to  the  setting  sun — to  the  gilded  horizon  of  Western  America. 
For  want  of  an  American  road,  they  seek  foreign  routes,  far  round,  by  sea  and  land,  to 
reach  by  an  immense  circuit  what  is  a  part  of  their  own  land.  Until  we  can  get  a  road 
of  our  own,  we  must  use  and  support  a  foreign  route;  but  that  is  a  temporary  resource, 
demanded  by  the  exigency  of  the  times,  and  until  we  can  get  our  own  ready.  Never 


22 

did  so  great  an  object  present  itself  to  the  acceptance  of  a  nation.  We  own  the  coun- 
try from  sea  to  sea — from  the  Atlantic  to  the  Pacific — and  upon  a  breadth  equal  to  the 
length  of  the  Mississippi — and  embracing  the  whole  temperate  zone.  Three  thousand 
miles  across,  and  half  that  breadth,  is  the  magnificent  parallelogram  of  our  domain. 
We  can  run  a  national  central  road  through  and  through,  the  whole  distance,  under  our 
flag  and  under  our  laws.  Military  reasons  require  us  to  make  it:  for  troops  and  muni- 
tions must  go  there.  Political  reasons  require  us  to  make  it:  it  will  be  a  chain  of  union 
between  the  Atlantic  and  Pacific  States.  Commercial  reasons  demand  it  from  us:  and 
here  I  touch  a  boundless  field,  dazzling  and  bewildering  the  imagination  from  its  vastness 
and  importance.  The  trade  of  the  Pacific  Ocean,  of  the  western  coast  of  North  Amer- 
ica, and  of  Eastern  Asia,  will  all  take  its  track;  and  not  only  for  ourselves,  but  for  pos- 
terity. That  trade  of  India  which  has  been  shifting  its  channels  from  the  time  of  the 
Phoenicians  to  the  present,  is  destined  to  shift  once  more,  and  to  realize  the  grand  idea 
of  Columbus.  The  American  road  to  India  will  also  become  the  European  track  to 
that  region.  The  European  merchant,  as  well  as  the  American,  will  fly  across  oar 
continent  on  a  straight  line  to  China.  The  rich  commerce  of  Asia  will  flow  through 
our  centre.  &nd  where  has  that  commerce  ever  flowed  without  carrying  wealth  and 
dominion  with  it?  Look  at  its  ancient  channels,  and  the  cities  which  it  raised  into 
kingdoms,  and  the  populations  which  upon  its  treasures  became  resplendent  in  science, 
learning,  and  the  arts.  Tyre,  Sidon,  Balbec,  Palmyra,  Alexandria,  among  its  ancient 
emporiums,  attest  the  power  of  this  commerce  to  enrich,  to  aggrandize,  and  to  enlighten 
nations.  Constantinople,  in  the  middle  ages,  and  in  the  time  of  the  crusades,  was  the 
wonder  of  Western  Europe;  and  all,  because  she  was  then  a  thoroughfare  of  Asiatic 
commerce.  Genoa  and  Venice,  mere  cities,  in  later  time,  became  the  match  of  king- 
doms, and  the  envy  of  kings,  from  the  mere  divided  streams  of  this  trade  of  which  they 
became  the  thoroughfare.  Lisbon  had  her  great  day,  and  Portugal  her  pre  eminence 
during  the  little  while  that  the  discovery  of  the  Cape  of  Good  Hope  put  her  in  commu- 
nication with  the  East.  Amsterdam,  the  city  of  a  little  territory  rescued  from  the  sea, 
and  the  Seven  United  Provinces,  not  equal  in  extent  to  one  of  our  lesser  States,  became 
great  in  arms,  in  letters,  in  wealth,  and  in  power;  and  all  upon  the  East  India  trade. 
And  London,  what  makes  her  the  commercial  mistress  of  the  world — what  makes  an 
island  no  larger  than  one  of  our  first  class  States — the  mistress  of  possessions  in  the  four 
quarters  of  the  globe — a  match  for  half  of  Europe — and  dominant  in  Asia?  What 
makes  ail  this,  or  contributes  most  to  make  it,  but  this  same  Asiatic  trade ?  In  no  in- 
stance has  it  failed  to  carry  the  nation,  or  the  people  which  possessed  it,  to  the  highest 
pinnacle  of  wealth  and  power,  and  with  it  the  highest  attainments  of  letters,  arts,  and 
sciences.  And  so  will  it  continue  to  be.  An  American  road  to  India,  through  the 
heart  of  our  country,  will  revive  upon  its  line  all  the  wonders  of  which  we  have  read — 
and  eclipse  them.  The  western  wilderness,  from  the  Pacific  to  the  Mississippi,  will 
start  into  life  under  its  touch.  A  long  line  of  cities  will  grow  up.  Existing  cities  will 
take  a  new  start.  The  state  of  the  world  calls  for  a  new  road  to  India,  and  it  is  our 
destiny  to  give  it — the  last  and  greatest.  Let  us  act  up  to  the  greatness  of  the  occa- 
sion, and  show  ourselves  worthy  of  the  extraordinary  circumstances  in  which  we  are 
placed,  by  securing  while  we  can  an  American  road  to  India — central  and  national — for 
ourselves  and  our  posterity — now,  and  hereafter,  for  thousands  of  years  to  come. 


(C.) 

Extract  from  Senator  Benton's  speech  in  the  Senate,  1850. 

There  is  an  idea  become  current  of  late — a  new-born  idea — that  none  but  a  man  of 
science,  bred  in  a  school,  can  lay  off  a  road.  That  is  a  mistake.  There  is  a  class  of 
topographical  engineers  older  than  the  schools,  and  more  unerring  than  the  mathematics. 
They  are  the  wild  animals — buffalo,  elk,  deer,  antelope,  bears,  which  travese  the  forest, 
not  "by  compass,  but  by  an  instinct  which  leads  them  always  the  right  way — to  the 
lowest  passes  in  the  mountains,  the  shallowest  fords  in  the  rivers,  the  richest  pastures 
in  the  forest,  the  best  salt  springs,  and  the  shortest  practicable  lines  between  remote 
points.  They  travel  thousands  of  miles,  have  their  annual  migrations  backwards  and 
forwards,  and  never  miss  the  best  and  shortest  route.  They  are  the  first  engineers  to  lay 


23 

out  a  road  in  a  new  country  ;  the  Indians  follow  them,  and  hence  a  buffalo  road  be- 
comes a  war  path.  The  first  white  hunters  follow  the  same  trails  in  pursuing  their 
game  ;  and  after  that  the  buffalo  road  becomes  the  wagon  road  of  the  white  man,  and 
finally  the  macadamized  or  railroad  of  the  scientific  man.  It  all  resolves  itself  into  the 
same  thing — into  the  same  buffalo  road;  and  thence  the  buffalo  becomes  the  first  and 
safest  engineer.  Thus  it  has  been  here,  in  the  countries  which  we  inhabit,  and  the 
history  which  is  so  familiar. 

I  have  demonstrated  the  nationality  of  this  work — its  practicability — and  the  means 
in  our  hands  for  making  it ;  I  do  not  expatiate  upon  its  importance.  When  finished  it  will 
be  the  American  road  to  Asia,  and  will  turn  the  Asiatic  commerce  of  Europe  through 
the  heart  of  our  America.  It  will  make  us  the  mistress  of  that  trade — rich  at  home 
and  powerful  abroad — and  reviving  a  line  of  oriental  and  almost  fabulous  cities  to 
stretch  across  our  continent — Tyres,  Sidons,  Palmyras,  Balbecs.  Do  we  need  any 
stimulus  for  the  undertaking  1  Any  other  nation,  upon  half  a  pretext,  would  go  to 
war  for  the  right  of  making  it,  and  tax  unborn  generations  for  its  completion.  We 
have  it  without  war,  without  tax,  without  treaty  with  any  Power ;  and  when  we  make 
it  all  nations  must  travel  it — with  our  permission — and  behave  themselves  to  receive 
permiision.  Besides  riches  and  power,  it  will  give  us  a  hold  upon  the  good  behavior 
of  nations  by  the  possession  which  it  will  give  us  of  a  short,  safe,  and  cheap  road  to 
India. 

The  work  is  great,  but  nothing  compared  to  our  means,  and  to  the  magnitude  of  the 
object,  or  to  what  was  done  by  the  Incas  of  Peru  before  the  New  World  was  discovered. 
Their  two  roads  from  Quito  to  Cuzco  (to  say  nothing  of  many  shorter  ones)  were  each 
nearly  as  long,  both  over  more  difficult  ground,  equal  in  amount  of  labor  required,  and 
more  commodious  than  the  proposed  system  of  roads  from  the  Mississippi  to  the  Pacific 
ocean.  One  of  our  classic  historians  (Prescott)  thus  describee  them: 

"  There  were  many  of  the  roads  traversing  different  parts  of  the  kingdom  ;  but  the 
most  considerable  were  the  two  which  extended  from  Quito  to  Cuzco,  and  again  di- 
verging from  the  capital,  continued  in  a  southern  direction  towards  Chili.  One  of 
these  roads  passed  over  the  grand  plateau,  and  the  other  along  the  lowlands  on  the 
borders  of  the  ocean.  The  former  was  much  the  most  difficult  achievement,  from  the 
character  of  the  country.  It  was  conducted  over  pathless  sierras  buried  in  snow;  gal- 
leries were  cut  for  leagues  through  the  living  rock  ;  rivers  were  crossed  by  rneana  of 
bridges  that  swung  suspended  in  the  air  ;  precipices  were  scaled  by  stair  ways  hewn 
out  of  the  native  bed  ;  ravines  of  hideous  depth  were  filled  up  with  solid  masonry  ;  in 
short,  all  the  dificuhies  that  beset  a  wild  and  mountainous  region,  and  which  might 
appal  the  most  courageous  engineers  of  modern  times,  were  encountered  and  successfully 
overcome.  The  length  of  the  road,  of  which  scattered  fragments  only  remain,  is 
variously  estimated,  from  fifteen  hundred  to  two  thousand  miles  ;  and  some  pillars,  in 
the  manner  of  European  milestones,  were  erected  at  stated  intervals  of  somewhat  more 
than  a  league,  alt  aJong  the  route.  Its  breadth  scarcely  exceeded  twenty  feet.  It  was 
built  of  heavy  flags  of  freestone,  and,  in  some  parts  at  least,  covered  with  bituminous 
cement,  which  time  has  made  harder  than  the  stone  itself.  In  some  places  where  the 
ravines  had  been  filled  up  with  masonry,  the  mountain  torrents,  wearing  it  for  ages, 
haite  gradually  eaten  a  way  through  the  base,  and  left  the  superincumbent  mass— such 
is  cohesion  of  the  material — still  spanning  the  valley  like  an  arch.  Over  some  of  the 
boldest  streams  it  was  necessary  to  construct  supension  bridges,  as  they  are  termed 
made  of  the  tough  fibres  of  the  maguey,  or  of  the  osier  of  the  country,  which  has  an 
extraordinary  degree  of  tenacity  and  strength.  These  osiers  were  woven  into  cables 
of  the  thickness  of  a  man's  body.  The  huge  ropes,  then  stretched  across  the  water, 
were  conducted  through  rings  or  holes  cut  in  immense  buttresses  of  stone  raised  on  the 
opposite  banks  of  the  river,  and  there  secured  to  heavy  pieces  of  timber.  Several  of  these 
enormous  cables,  bound  together,  formed  a  bridge,  which,  covered  with  planks,  well 
secured  and  defended  by  a  railing  of  the  same  osier  materials  on  the  sides,  afforded  a 
safe  passage  for  the  traveller." 

"  The  other  road  of  the  Incas  lay  trough  the  level  country  between  the  Andes  and 
the  ocean.  It  was  constructed  in  a  different  manner,  as  demanded  by  the  naiure  of  the 
ground,  which  was  for  the  most  part  low,  and  much  of  it  sandy.  The  causeway  was 
raised  on  a  high  embankment  of  earth,  and  defended  on  either  side  by  a  porapet,  or 
wall  of  clay  -t  and  trees  and  odoriferous  ehrubs  planted  along  the  margin,  r«galing  the 
sense  of  the  traveler  with  their  perfumes,  and  refreshing  him  by  their  shades,  so  grate- 
ful under  the  burning  sky  of  the  tropics.  All  along  these  highways,  caravanserai's 
were  erected  at  the  distance  of  ten  or  twelve  miles  for  the  accomodatton  of  travelers, 


24 

militarily  constructed  for  security,  and  supplied  with  water  brought  in  aqueducts  when 
tiot  found  at  the  place.  Couriers,  in  relieves,  and  running  swiftly,  carried,  dispatches 
the  whole  extent  of  these  long  routes  at  the  rate  of  one  hundred  and  fifty  miles  n  day  ; 
and,  besides  dispatches,  often  carried  fish  from  the  distant  ocean,  and  fruits  and  game 
from  the  hot  regions  on  the  coast,  to  be  served  up  fresh  at  the  Inca's  table  in  the  im- 
perial capitals."  « 

The  Baron  Humbolt  "  the  Nestor  of  Scientific  Travellers,19  thus  speaks  of  the  re- 
mains of  the  same  roads  from  his  own  personal  observation  : 

"  As  we  were  leading  our  heavily  laden  mules  with  great  difficulty  through  the 
marshy  ground  on  the  elevated  plain  del  Pullal,  our  eyes  meanwhile  were  continually 
dwelling  on  the  grand  remains  of  the  Inca's  road,  which,  with  a  breadth  of  twenty-one 
English  feet,  was  there  remaining  by  our  side.  It  had  a  deep  understructure,  and  was 
paved  with  well  cut  blocks  of  blackish  trap-porphry.  Nothing  that  I  had  seen  of  the 
remains  of  Roman  roads  in  Italy,  in  South  of  France,  and  in  Spain,  was  more  impos- 
ing than  those  works  of  the  ancient  Peruvians,  which  are  situated,  according  to  my 
barometric  measurment,  13,258  English  feet  above  the  level  of  the  sea — or  more  than  a 
thousand  leet  higher  than  the  summit  of  the  Peak  of  Tenerifle.  There  are  two  great 
artificial  paved  roads,  or  system  of  roads,  covered  with  flat  stones,  or  sometimes  even 
with  cemented  grapel ;  one  passes  through  the  wide  and  arid  plain,  between  the  Pacific 
ocean  and  the  chain  of  the  Andes,  and  the  other  over  the  ridges  of  the  Cordilleras. 
Milestones,  or  stones  marking  the  distances,  are  often  placed  at  equal  intervals.  The 
road  was  conducted  across  rivers  and  deep  ravines  by  three  kinds  of  bridges — stone, 
woi'd,  and  rope  bridges  ;  and  there  were  also  aqeducts  for  bringing  water  to  the  resting 
places  (caravansaries)  and  to  the  fortresses.  Both  systems  of  roads  were  directed  to 
the  central  point,  Cuzco,  the  seat  of  government  of  the  great  empire,  in  12°  31'  south 
latitude,  and  which  is  placed,  according  to  Pentland's  map  of  Bolivia,  13,378  English 
feet  above  the  level  of  the  sea.  The  two  important  capitals  of  the  empire,  Cuzco  and 
Quito,  thus  connected  by  two  different  systems  of  roads,  are  1000  English  geographical 
miles  apart,  in  a  straight  line — (S.  S.  E.  N.  N.  W.) — without  reckoning  the  many 
windings  of  the  way;  and,  including  the  windings,  the  distance  is  estimated  by  Gar- 
cilasso  de  la  Vega  and  other  conquistadores  at  500  leagues." 

Such  were  the  roads  constructed  on  our  own  continent  before  the  discovery  of  the 
New  World,  and  by  a  people  whom  we  consider  uncivilized,  and  who  certainly  had 
but  few  of  the  helps  of  civilization — no  knowledge  of  iron — no  mechanical  powers — 
no  beast  of  burden  but  a  sort  of  a  sheep — the  lama — too  light  for  the  draught,  and  too 
weak  for  the  burden — only  carrying  an  hundred  pounds  ten  miles  in  a  day  ;  and  yet  a 
people  who  constructed  two  such  roads,  each  near  about  as  long  as  from  Missouri  to  the 
Pacific — one  at  a  mountainous  elevation  only  about  a  thousand  feet  lower  than  the 
summit  of  Mont  Blanc,  and  the  other  in  the  arid  sands  of  the  lowlands,  under  a  tropical 
heat,  and  both  in  a  direction  to  cross  successive  mountains  or  rivers,  and  both  executed 
in  a  style  of  accomodation  that  we  do  not  pretend  to  rival  :  military  protection,  safe 
lodging,  water,  shade,  baths,  the  perfume  of  odoriferous  shrubs  !  and  mails,  messages, 
and  small  burdens  transported  upon  them  at  the  rate  of  one  hundred  and  fifty  miles  a 
day,  without  horses  and  without  steam,  by  men  running  on  foot  alone.  After  seeing 
such  a  system  of  roads  on  our  own  continent,  devised  and  established  by  such  a  people, 
what  is  there  to  prevent  us,  the  vanguard  of  the  Anglo-Saxon  race,  and  the  descendants 
of  the  elite  of  Europe,  to  open  the  system  of  roads  which  my  bill  proposes — a  common 
road,  on  which  the  mail  stage  is  to  run  one  hundred  miles  in  the  twenty-four  hours, 
and  a  letter  horse  mail  two  hundred  miles  in  the  same  time — a  railway  on  which  the 
cars  are  to  fly,  like  the  express  trains  in  England,  forty-two  miles  to  the  hour — an 
electric  line,  along  which,  and  across  the  continent,  people  are  to  communicate  as  they 
would  hold  converse  across  a  room  ? 


